1 1 


UNIVERSITY  01  CAUFORNm 
LIBRARY 


Common  Sense 


m 


School  Supervision 


CHARLES  A.  WAGNER 

(i4.  B.,  A.  A/.,  Ursinus  College.     Ph.  D.,  University  of  Pennsylvania.) 

Superintendent  of  Schools 
Chester,  Pa. 


BRUCE  -  MILVVAUKEB 


The  Bruce  Publishing  Company 

Milwaukee,  Wis. 


34149 


Copyright  1921 
The  Bruce  Publishing  Company 


L-jy 


Introduction. 

These  chapters  on  Supervision  of  Instruction  have 
grown  out  of  classroom  experience  and  out  of  super- 
visory experiences  of  all  kinds;  routine  supervision, 
conferences  of  teachers  and  supervisors;  conferences 
of  supervisors  and  superintendent ;  public  lectures  and 
private  discussions  of  the  principles  of  supervision; 
actual  experimentation  with  the  supervisory  practices 
r     herein  recommended. 

J  If  speaking  from  experience  be  regarded  a  valid 

!n\^  reason  for  speaking  at  all  on  a  subject,  then  these  chap- 
ters have  the  fullest  possible  warrant ;  thirty  years  of 
practicing,  of  speaking,  and  of  writing  the  ideas  pre- 
sented. 

The  order  of  presentation  has  been  determined  by 
^'.   experiment.    Following  the  discussion  of  a  topic  dif- 
^     ferent  groups  of  persons  were  asked  to  tell,  "What 
question  about  Supervision  of  Instruction  arises  from 
the  discussion  just  ended?"     Either  a  unanimous  or 
a  majority  opinion  would  then  choose  the  topic  which 
i    is  next  treated  in  the  text.     Thus  the  order  of  the 
I    chapters  is  entirely  a  psychological  order. 
*<^  A  closely  consecutive  reading  of  the  chapters  may 

arouse  the  feeling  that  certain  ideas  have  been  stated 
more  than  once.  Usually  the  restatement  seemed  nec- 
essary to  complete  the  discussion  of  the  topic  under 
consideration  and  was,  therefore,  made  unhesitatingly. 
Usually,  too,  the  desire  to  make  a  lasting  impression  of 
the  ideas  repeated  was  part  of  the  actuating  motive. 
Moreover,  the  restatement  is  always  a  new  statement. 

3 


4  INTRODUCTION 

The  wish  of  the  author  has  been  that  the  order  of 
presentation  and  the  unbiased  treatment  may  lead  to 
two  definite  results:  First,  interest,  sympathy,  and 
enthusiasm  for  the  right  kind  of  supervision ;  second, 
clearness  and  adequacy  of  perception  of  the  relations 
discussed.  If  these  two  hopes  shall  be  realized  even 
to  a  slight  degree,  the  writer  will  feel  fully  repaid  for 
his  "labor  of  love"  in  writing  these  chapters. 

C.  A.W. 

Chester,  Penna.,  December  15,  1920. 


Table  of  Contents 

Chapter  P^K^ 

-  I — Do  Teachers  Like  Supervision  ? 7 

II — Supervision  of  Instruction  in  Operation 19 

III — The  Supervisor 26 

-  IV — The  Teacher:   Supervision  an  Irritation 38 

"  V — The  Teacher:   Supervision  an  Inspiration 42 

VI — Invigoration  of  Instruction  Through  Supervision 48 

VII — Self-Supervision    by   Teachers:      What    Supervision 

Is  Not 60 

VIII — Supervision  of  Instruction  by  a  Teaching  PrincipaL  .   68 
IX — Supervision    of    Instruction:     The    Special    Teacher- 
Supervisor  V2 

X — Ethical   Relations   of   Supervised  and   Supervisor   of 

Instruction 88 

XI — The     Personal     Versus     th6     Professional     Attitude 

Toward  Supervision  97 

XII — Supervision  of  Instruction 107 

XIII — Supervision  of  Instruction:    Growth  of  the  Teacher 

and  Slipervisor 131 

XIV — Supervision    of    Instruction     and    the     Grading     of 

Teachers  for  Efficiency 141 

XV — Why  Supervision  of  Instruction  Is  Necessary 155 

XVI — How    May    the    Visit    of    the    Supervisor    Be    Made 

Profitable  and  Most  Enjoyable  ? 168 

XVII— Who  Shall  Rate  the  Superintendent 174 

XVIII — A    Few    Unsolved    Problems    of   Supervision    of    In- 
struction     179 

XIX— What  Two  Teachers  Think  of  Supervision 189 

5 


CHAPTER  I. 

Do  Teachers  Like  Supervision. 

About  all  the  knowledge  obtainable  on  this  topic  is 
a  series  of  individual  opinions,  mostly  the  opinions  of 
teachers  who  give  expression  to  their  dissatisfaction 
with  supervision  as  they  have  experienced  it.  No  sta- 
tistical study  appears  to  have  been  made  at  any  time. 
Obviously  it  is  impossible  to  give  the  statistical  reply. 
The  mere  existence  of  school  supervision  in  cities,  in 
towns,  in  counties,  and  in  even  smaller  school  units,  is 
not  a  proof  that  teachers  like  supervision  nor  that  they 
believe  in  it,  even  if  this  wide  prevalence  be  admitted 
as  proof  that  somebody  believes  supervision  of  instruc- 
tion a  necessity. 

Starting  from  the  purely  individual  basis  the  state- 
ment seems  warranted  that  some  teachers  like  super- 
vision and  say  little  about  it,  and  others  do  not  like  it 
and  proclaim  their  dislike  to  all  the  world  that  will 
lend  a  listening  ear.  Experience  proves  the  truth  of 
this  assertion,  whether  statistics  have  or  have  not  been 
gathered.  Of  any  teaching  corps  under  consideration 
it  will  probably  be  found  that  some  teachers  like  one 
supervisor,  some  another  supervisor.  Few  supervisors 
are  liked  by  all  their  teachers,  and  similarly,  probably 
few  supervisors  are  disliked  by  all  their  teachers. 

The  use  of  liking  or  disliking  as  terms  at  once  dis- 
closes the  fault  in  the  relation;  it  is  expressed  in  a 
term  that  shows  the  feeling  to  be  personal  rather  than 
professional.  Professional  difference  would  be  ex- 
pressed in  "disagreement"  or  an  equivalent  term. 

1 


8  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

This  being  so,  what  is  indicated?  That  supervision 
should  be  abolished?  Supervisor  and  supervised  must 
rise  above  personality  to  the  professional  level,  and 
must  meet  each  other  in  their  teaching  relationship  in 
the  impersonal,  judicial,  professional  attitude  which 
the  judge  on  the  bench  feels  for  the  accused.  No  pure- 
ly personal  consideration  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  the  relationship  of  supervisor  and  supervised. 

The  advancement  of  the  pupil  is  the  single  end 
aimed  at  by  teacher  and  supervisor.  Both  and  each 
must  see  in  supervision  the  effort  to  secure  unity,  se- 
quence, completeness  of  instruction,  and  equality  of 
opportunity  for  each  child.  The  constantly  changing 
requirements  of  education,  changes  within  the  school 
system,  entrance  of  new  teachers  into  the  system,  and 
the  application  of  newer  pedagogical  truths,  each  and 
all  require  that  a  system  of  schools  be  directed  by  a 
single  intelligence. 

If  each  teacher  chooses  for  her  classes  what  shall 
be  the  course  of  study,  chaos  and  disorder  will  ensue 
in  the  system.  All  other  considerations  are  secondary 
to  the  demand  for  unity,  continuity,  sequence  of  in- 
struction and  for  equivalence  of  opportunity  for  all 
the  children  of  a  school  system. 

Probably  no  other  demand  would  be  strong  enough 
to  sustain  supervision  against  the  opposition  of  some 
teachers  and  their  friends  and  against  the  clamors  of 
directors  and  taxpayers  because  of  its  high  cost.  The 
objections  to  supervision  as  voiced  by  some  teachers 
should  clear  the  way  for  a  considerate  treatment  of 
objections  and  appraisement  of  the  commendations. 
From  the  notes  of  an  acting  superintendent  the  fol- 
lowing objections  have  been  extracted  as  typical. 


CONDEMNATION  VS.  FAILURE  9 

'7  was  caught  unprepared.  What  I  did  is  not  a  fair 
example  of  my  real  work."  Generally  such  a  state- 
ment is  entirely  true.  That  a  good  teacher  might  make 
it  and  not  be  deserving  of  condemnation  can  be  quite 
frankly  admitted.  That  will  be  no  condemnation  of 
supervision  nor  of  the  supervisor  any  more  than  it  is 
of  the  teacher.  The  supervisor  judges  v^hat  he  sees. 
He  calls  w^hat  he  sees  by  its  real  name,  but  takes  cir- 
cumstances into  consideration.  If  not  fit  nor  at  her 
best,  the  teacher  has  a  right  to  say  so.  Probably  it 
would  have  been  better  for  the  teacher  not  to  go  to 
school  that  day,  and  yet  she  can  not  be  severely  blamed 
for  taking  a  chance  if  the  entire  supervisory  system 
is  on  a  chance  basis.  Having  undertaken  to  teach  in 
her  condition  of  fatigue  or  non-preparation,  she  has 
assumed  all  responsibility  for  the  work,  and  she  now 
has  left  to  her  merely  the  right  to  offer  an  explanation 
in  justification  of  her  course. 

No  right  to  condemn  supervision  can  possibly  be 
drawn  from  having  taken  the  chance  and  lost.  The 
supervisor  may  accept  the  explanation  and  treat  it  as 
an  extenuating  circumstance.  If  the  teacher  does  not 
seek  to  excuse  herself  for  poor  work  every  time  that 
supervisor  comes,  the  teacher  will  be  given  the  benefit 
of  a  lenient  judgment.  It  is  only  repeated  and  con- 
tinual excuses  for  not  doing  well  by  a  teacher  that  dis- 
pose the  supervisor  to  conclude  that  the  teacher  has 
an  unawakened  sense  of  responsibility  and  is  making 
an  inferior  effort.  No  teacher  can  fairly  nor  continu- 
ously base  her  objection  to  supervision  to  a  claim  that 
it  is  disclosing  her  slackness ;  that  would  be  confession 
and  self-condemnation. 

If  the  teacher  really  feels  that  she  has  been  caught 
unprepared,  she  should  at  once  request  a  special  visit 


10  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

from  the  supervisor  at  a  fixed  time  to  do  similar  work 
and  thus  demonstrate  that  she  is  capable  of  more  suc- 
cessful teaching.  Every  professional  spirited  super- 
visor will  be  very  ready  to  consent  to  such  an  arrange- 
ment. If  under  such  a  prearranged  trial  the  teacher 
does  good  work,  she  has  given  the  supervisor  sufficient 
reason  for  excusing  the  first  shortcoming,  but  she  has 
also  shown  that  the  supervisor  will  be  right  in  the  fu- 
ture if  he  demands  that  the  teacher  key  herself  up  to 
good  work  all  the  time. 

The  outcome  of  the  arranged  trial  has  demonstrat- 
ed that  not  lack  of  ability  but  absence  of  steady  and 
even  determination  was  the  real  shortcoming.  For 
such  a  shortcoming  there  can  be  no  permanent  excuse, 
and  the  supervisor  will  be  justified  in  refusing  to  ex- 
cuse repetitions  of  the  fault.  Put  into  language 
stripped  of  "polite  fiction"  this  objection  means,  "Su- 
pervision prevents  loafing  on  the  job." 

"I  get  fairly  sick  on  the  days  when  I  knoiv  a  super- 
visor is  coming  and  dread  to  go  to  school."  This  is  a 
clear  case  of  misunderstanding  and  of  maladjustment 
to  the  purposes  of  supervision.  The  teacher  thinks 
the  supervisor  a  spy.  When  supervision  and  criticism 
of  practice  have  become  an  integral  part  of  the  train- 
ing of  all  young  teachers,  such  an  expression  will  never 
be  heard  from  a  teacher  in  service.  If  the  experiences 
of  the  training  course  do  not  deter  so  sensitive  a  soul 
from  becoming  a  teacher,  they  will  accustom  her  to  the 
process  and  will  give  her  a  taste  of  the  benefits  of  su- 
pervision to  the  earnest  and  striving  teacher. 

The  teachers  who  raise  the  loudest  and  most  re- 
sentful objections  to  supervision  are  usually  those  who 
have  taught  longest.     These  teachers  of  long  experi- 


EXPERIENCED  TEACHERS  U 

ence  know  certain  textbooks  in  certain  subjects,  and 
they  may  know  children  better  than  the  supervisor. 
Therefore  they  suppose  they  do  not  need  supervision, 
especially  should  they  be  excused  from  supervision  by 
a  mere  "chit"  of  a  girl  who  has  just  graduated  from 
the  normal  school. 

When  forcibly  and  vehemently  iterated  and  reit- 
erated, this  contrast  between  the  experience  of  teacher 
and  supervisor  does  appear  to  favor  the  teachers'  ex- 
pectation to  be  free  from  supervision.  Notice,  please, 
the  statement  says  "appear  to  favor."  It  is  pure  ap- 
pearance, no  more,  no  less.  Really  the  mature  woman 
with  her  wealth  of  teaching  experience  believes  that 
because  of  her  experience  she  can  win  and  hold  the 
children  to  conformity,  to  effort  and  to  obedience. 

If  the  point  be  conceded,  has  the  case  been  lost  for 
supervision?  Has  it  been  lost  even  for  the  young  su- 
pervisor just  fresh  from  the  normal  school?  If  the 
experienced  teacher  had  wisely  directed  some  of  her 
energy  and  had  prudently  used  her  opportunities  for 
growth  and  breadth  of  knowledge,  she  should  and 
would  now  be  the  supervisor  in  place  of  the  young 
graduate.  If  with  all  her  fine  experience  she  failed  to 
grow,  and  just  went  on  year  after  year  doing  what 
she  did  each  previous  year,  she  has  shown  her  inherent 
incapacity  to  become  a  supervisor,  a  leader,  and  has 
equally  proved  her  need  of  supervision,  which  has 
among  its  foremost  duties  to  carry  the  newer  and  bet- 
ter to  teachers  who  otherwise  fail  to  secure  them. 

Moreover,  if  the  experienced  teacher  grew  at  all 
but  failed  to  attain  the  growth  needed  to  become  super- 
visor, she  will  surely  have  grown  enough  to  be  able  to 
appreciate  as  supervisor  a  person  who  has  had  a  broad- 


12  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

er  training  and  a  wider  outlook  than  can  be  acquired 
in  a  single  grade  or  school  or  subject  in  any  number 
of  years. 

The  experienced  teacher  who  chafes  under  a  com- 
petent "young"  supervisor  is  more  than  likely  the  one 
who  rested  satisfied  with  her  attainments  when  she 
too  was  a  young  graduate,  and  she  now  resents  super- 
vision on  "personal"  grounds,  although  perhaps  rather 
unready  to  admit  this.  Because  her  way  has  been  re- 
garded successful  so  long,  she  does  not  admit  any  need 
for  trial  of  new  ways.  This  state  of  mind  is  the  best 
reason  for  supervision. 

The  child  under  instruction  is  living  now  and  must 
go  into  the  world  of  tomorrow.  His  work  must  face 
the  future.  As  against  the  children,  no  teacher  has 
any  right  to  demand  that  she  be  permitted  to  continue 
her  plan  and  methods  just  because  she  is  familiar  with 
them  and  dislikes  the  discomfort  of  a  readjustment. 
The  school  is  supported  for  the  child,  and  it  is  the  busi- 
ness of  the  school  to  fit  the  child  for  the  future  and  to 
enable  him  to  fit  into  that  future  as  a  participating, 
contributing  unit.  Badly  put  this  objection  says: 
"You  have  no  right  to  disturb  my  slumbers." 

Objections  of  teachers  to  supervision  on  the  ground 
of  their  own  greater  experience  have  as  much  right 
to  consideration  as  would  the  same  teacher's  claim  to 
be  allowed  to  go  on  teaching  out-of-date  textbooks  in 
history  and  geography  because  she  is  already  familiar 
with  them. 

If  we  do  not  excuse  the  teacher  from  revising  her 
knowledge  of  facts  as  facts  change,  why  shall  she  be 
excused  from  changing  her  plans  or  her  methods,  even 
if  the  changes  be  directed  by  a  young  supervisor?  The 
chances  are  that  the  longer  the  teacher  has  been  in 


HELPFUL  SUGGESTIONS  13 

one  place  doing  the  same  work,  the  more  necessary  is 
supervision.  If  such  a  teacher  has  grown  regularly 
and  constantly,  she  may  not  need  supervision  so  much 
as  she  will  be  glad  for  it,  since  it  is  sure  to  bring  new 
knowledge  and  suggestions  for  further  growth. 

'7  am  so  glad  on  the  days  when  no  supervisor  comes 
to  visit  my  room."  This  may  be  a  very  fair  cause  for 
rejoicing.  If  supervisors  follow  each  other  through 
the  rooms  of  a  building  in  an  almost  constant  stream, 
then  the  rejoicing  is  warranted.  Without  conceding 
any  reality  to  this  objection  to  supervision,  it  may  be 
admitted  as  a  justified  objection  to  haphazard  or  to 
unregulated  routine  of  supervisors'  visits.  We  must 
even  admit  that  no  one  knows  anything  authoritatively 
as  to  the  right  frequency  of  supervisors'  visits.  There 
are  both  rules  and  opinions  about  it,  but  practically  no 
facts. 

Whether  a  particular  supervisor  should  come  once 
a  month  or  once  a  week  has  not  been  experimentally 
determined,  nor  whether  more  than  one  supervisor 
should  visit  a  teacher  in  one  day.  Teachers  are  very 
certain  they  do  not  want  two  a  day,  nor  do  they  want 
to  have  one  supervisor  each  day  of  the  week.  This  re- 
joicing on  the  day  when  no  supervisor  comes  is  then 
the  expression  of  the  teacher's  feeling  that  she  wants 
some  days  in  which  her  program  need  not  be  dis- 
arranged, nor  her  plans  spoiled.  If  supervisors'  visits 
are  arranged  and  timed  with  that  purpose  in  view, 
the  routine  of  procedure  will  be  much  smoother. 

The  nature  of  the  study  or  branch  supervised,  the 
temperament  of  teacher,  pupils  and  supervisor,  the 
training  and  experience  of  the  teacher,  and  other  con- 
siderations must  be  reckoned  with  in  making  out  the 
schedule  of  visits.     Generally  the  determining  factor 


14  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

of  frequency  is  the  calendar  divisions  of  weeks  and 
months ;  that  is,  so  many  visits  per  week  or  per  month. 
If  not  one  supervisor  each  day,  what  does  seem  a 
justifiable  or  permissible  frequence?  As  a  proposal 
for  discussion  it  would  seem  safe  to  suggest  that  there 
should  be  at  least  the  time  of  two  school  days  between 
the  visits  of  any  two  supervisors  and  one  or  two  weeks 
between  the  visits  of  the  same  supervisor.  To  this 
frequence  good  teachers  would  not  seriously  object, 
hence  it  may  be  assumed  to  represent  the  average  opin- 
ion. 

The  use  of  the  word  opinion  discloses  the  whole 
trouble ;  we  have  opinions  but  no  facts,  as  has  already 
been  stated.  The  removal  of  the  objection,  "We  are 
supervised  to  routine  staleness,"  is  easy  if  all  the  su- 
pervisory work  is  scheduled  and  co-ordinated  in  the 
office  of  the  superintendent.  Nothing  but  that  can 
prevent  the  annoyance  of  teachers  by  too  much  super- 
vision crowded  into  a  short  time. 

Supervisors  moving  as  free  lances  or  each  making 
an  individual  schedule  to  suit  conveniences  of  train  or 
trolley  are  sure  to  produce  the  crowding  and  conflict 
of  which  teachers  complain.  A  university  postgradu- 
ate department  should  study  this  problem  experiment- 
ally in  the  supervisory  units  lying  all  about  the  uni- 
versity. 

In  that  way  facts  can  displace  mere  opinion.  Hav- 
ing admitted  all  this  it  is  still  permissible  to  say  that 
real  supervision  is  not  objectionable.  Real  supervi- 
sion will  not  crowd  the  teacher,  will  not  assign  two  or 
three  supervisors  to  visit  the  same  building  and  rooms 
on  one  day,  and  real  supervision  can  afford  to  work 
according  to  a  schedule  so  the  teacher  may  know  when 
the  supervisor  is  coming. 


GRADING  WORK  15 

"My  work  is  graded  successful  and  another  teacher 
who  does  better  wo7-k  is  credited  with  hut  fair  results" 
The  teacher  who  makes  this  statement  believes  it  true, 
of  course.  The  supervisor  who  sees  both  teachers  con- 
duct the  work  has  a  basis  of  comparison  which  teach- 
ers lack.  Assuming  that  the  supervisor  is  working  in  a 
true  professional  spirit,  his  judgment  must  be  accept- 
ed. The  vivacity,  the  enthusiasm  of  the  teacher  count 
for  much,  hence  a  mere  comparison  of  lesson  plans, 
even  if  accompanied  by  a  discussion  of  the  contemplat- 
ed plans,  is  not  conclusive  proof  that  the  teacher  with 
the  better  plan  will  teach  the  better  lesson. 

Nor  must  it  be  overlooked  that  the  best  teachers 
have  poor  or  "off"  days.  Should  the  supervisor  see  a 
good  teacher  conduct  a  poor  recitation,  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  call  that  recitation  poor,  or  the  entire  work  of 
supervision  is  discredited.  When  a  supervisor  finds 
poor  results  he  must  say  so.  An  explanation  or  even 
a  justification  of  poor  work  may  be  possible.  It  should 
be  offered  by  the  teacher  and  should  be  considered  by 
the  supervisor. 

The  fact  that  the  supervisor  found  the  work  poor 
and  said  so  should  root  supervision  in  that  teacher's 
professional  affections  rather  than  incline  the  teacher 
to  dislike  supervision.  That  on  a  given  day  an  average 
teacher  may  be  adjudged  to  have  taught  more  success- 
fully than  a  more  gifted  teacher  is  indubitable  evidence 
of  the  fairness  and  the  competency  of  the  supervisor. 

The  teacher  who  has  not  received  the  degree  of 
credit  which  she  thinks  she  deserves,  should  at  once 
ask  the  supervisor  to  point  out  the  ways  in  which  the 
work  might  have  been  improved  if  such  suggestions 
did  not  accompany  the  supervisor's  opinion.    To  admit 


16  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

that  supervisors  may  err  is  not  to  condemn  super- 
vision ;  supervisors  have  all  the  frailties  of  our  human 
nature,  and  are  no  more  infallible  than  teachers. 

'7  wish  you  would  give  me  another  trial.  I  am  con- 
fident that  I  have  done  better  on  days  when  you  did 
not  see  my  work  than  I  have  done  today."  This  is  the 
expression  of  the  large-visioned,  fine-spirited  teacher 
who  understands  the  aims  and  purposes  of  supervision, 
who  has  fathomed  the  real  friendliness  of  the  super- 
visor, and  who  has  on  former  occasions  experienced 
the  worth  of  the  advice  which  the  trusted  supervisor 
can  supply. 

In  such  a  case  the  supervisor  will  be  glad  to  sus- 
pend judgment  until  the  next  visit,  or,  if  possible,  will 
at  once  fix  a  time  for  the  demonstration.  Some  super- 
visors have  the  notion  that  it  is  fair  to  try  to  catch  the 
teacher  in  an  "off"  lesson.  There  is  no  ethickl  correct- 
ness nor  professional  fairness  in  that  kind  of  super- 
vision. Supervision  is  not  playing  detective.  From 
teachers,  as  from  pupils  and  from  humanity  in  gen- 
eral, we  get  according  to  our  expectations.  If  in  the 
arranged  demonstration  lesson  the  teacher  shows  that 
she  can  do  very  well,  both  teacher  and  supervisor  have 
reason  to  decide  that  in  the  future  only  good  work  can 
be  accepted. 

The  teacher  should  not  be  allowed  nor  should  she 
allow  herself  to  do  poor  work.  Having  taught  the  one 
lesson  well  and  satisfactorily,  the  teacher  has  an  ex- 
perieiice  which  will  help  her  in  all  future  lessons,  the 
sense  of  having  succeeded.  Here  supervision  has  per- 
formed its  proper  function,  namely,  made  the  teacher 
a  better  and  more  confident  teacher  and  has  pitched 
effort  in  the  key  of  "success.'* 


SUPERVISION  JUSTIFIED  17 

"Come  to  see  me  now.  I  have  corrected  my  fault." 
Like  the  former,  this  expression  reveals  a  correct  con- 
ception and  attitude;  the  conception  that  supervision 
is  to  make  the  good  better,  to  remedy  the  remediable, 
to  condemn  the  condemnable ;  and  the  attitude  of  read- 
iness to  co-operate  with  supervisor  for  ever  better 
work. 

This  teacher  has  worked  her  way  out  of  her  diffi- 
culty and  has  done  it  herself;  can  supervision  have 
completer  justification?  Many  teachers  under  super- 
vision work  in  this  spirit,  though  it  is  not  always  easily 
apparent  nor  discernible.  The  beneficiaries  are  aware 
of  their  benefits,  are  quietly  grateful  and  say  nothing 
publicly.  The  malcontents  are  dissatisfied  and  are 
ceaselessly  telling  their  grievances.  The  latter  thus 
seem  a  multitude  and  the  former  seem  non-existent. 

"The  supervisor's  judgments  of  my  work  have 
helped  me  to  get  my  present  position."  This  teacher 
has  kept  and  studied  her  supervisor's  criticisms  and 
suggestions.  The  commendations  on  the  supervisor's 
reports,  when  shown  to  the  superintendent  to  whom 
application  was  made  for  the  new  and  better  position, 
were  more  effective  than  the  best  recommendation 
could  possibly  have  been. 

Did  that  teacher  believe  in  supervision?  Did  she 
complain  about  supervision?  That  not  all  nor  more 
teachers  have  such  an  experience  with  supervision  is 
largely  due  to  the  fact  that  during  the  process  of 
being  supervised  they  behave  so  differently  about  su- 
pervision and  toward  the  supervisor.  To  profit  by  sug- 
gestions of  the  supervisor,  and  to  incorporate  them  in 
the  procedure  of  instruction  and  drill  would  be  shrewd 
policy  if  it  were  nothing  more,  but  it  is  more,  it  is 
open-mindedness,  it  is  the  spirit  of  learning  the  better 


18  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

way,  it  is  the  desire  to  become  a  better  teacher.    Is  it 

not  easy  to  see  and  understand  why  one  teacher  profits 

by  supervision  and  why  another  may  deteriorate  under 

it? 

"Your  supervision  and  your  criticisms  have  made 
me  such  a  teacher  as  I  am."  No  more  generous  ac- 
knowledgement can  be  made  to  a  supervisor,  and  it  is 
more  frequently  made  than  either  outsiders  or  teachers 
suppose.  Even  if  such  a  generous-hearted  teacher  is 
properly  acknowledging  the  helpfulness  of  the  super- 
visor, helpfulness  because  the  supervisor's  faith  and 
expectation  of  good  work  have  been  an  ever-present 
stimulus  to  effort,  the  teacher's  reaction  to  suggestions 
and  criticism  must  also  be  remembered  and  taken  into 
account.  That  reaction  too  was  indispensable  in  mak- 
ing the  teacher  what  she  has  become. 

The  principles  of  supervision  may  be  unformulat- 
ed, and  the  practice  may  not  be  standardized  as  yet, 
none  the  less  is  there  need  for  supervision,  a  justifica- 
tion for  it,  even  if  present  objections  and  protests  of 
some  teachers  be  justifiable.  Lifted  from  the  plane  of 
personality  into  the  higher  regions  of  detachment  and 
impersonality,  and  maintained  on  the  level  of  purely 
professional  work,  conducted  in  the  atmosphere  of  ju- 
dicial procedure,  there  is  a  large  field  for  supervision 
of  instruction.  These  truths  are  rapidly  disclosing 
themselves,  and  teacher's  protests  and  objections  to 
this  supervision  are  mightily  opening  the  way  for  their 
emergence. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Supervision  of  Instruction  in  Operation. 

Among  the  superintendent's  duties  the  supervision 
of  instruction  is  usually  counted  as  one,  and  in  many 
cases  it  receives  but  little  of  the  superintendent's  time 
and  attention.  Therefore  a  statement  of  the  ordinary 
routine  of  the  procedure  v^^ill  be  helpful  for  this  dis- 
cussion. Mention  must  also  be  made  of  the  fact  that 
supervision  of  instruction  is  performed  as  a  part  of 
the  duty  of  principals,  special  teachers,  and  supervis- 
ors of  special  branches. 

The  observance  of  teaching,  criticism  and  confer- 
ence with  teachers  for  the  purpose  of  the  improvement 
of  the  instruction,  is  the  aspect  of  supervision  to  be 
discussed,  and  the  official  or  person  in  any  school  sys- 
tem who  performs  that  duty  is  to  that  extent  the  super- 
visor. Therefore  the  term  as  used  in  this  discussion 
may  mean  any  person  or  official  who  oversees  for  the 
purpose  of  guiding  instruction.. 

The  supervisor  is  the  officer  who  has  charge  of  the 
work  of  instruction  as  a  whole,  whether  it  be  an  as- 
sistant superintendent,  a  principal,  a  special  teacher 
or  the  supervisor  of  a  special  subject.  The  officer  is 
not  absent  in  the  one  room  school  for  there  the  teacher 
is  her  own  supervisor,  comparing  her  work  with  that 
of  other  teachers  by  conversation  or  by  reading  ac- 
counts in  books  and  journals. 

Whether  the  supervisory  official  has  one  or  the 
other  title,  actually  he  is  supposed  to  have  had  special 
training  for  the  work,  to  have  had  long  and  varied  ex- 

19 


20  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

perience  in  it,  to  have  a  well-balanced  judgment,  a 
tactful  manner  and  an  agreeable,  winning  personality. 
No  office  in  any  organization  calls  for  so  much  diplo- 
macy and  finesse  as  the  office  of  supervisor  of  instruc- 
tion. It  requires  ability  to  form  correct  judgments 
instantly,  skill  to  render  the  judgment  effectively  but 
inoffensively  if  it  be  unfavorable,  and  graciously  but 
unfiatteringly  if  it  be  favorable.  The  supervisor  must 
be  the  master  of  the  "right  word  fitly  spoken." 

The  teacher  will  need  less  direction  from  the  super- 
visor if  she  too  has  had  preparation  and  experience. 
Whether  a  recent  addition  to  the  staff  or  whether  a 
continuing  member  of  it,  the  teacher  needs  especially 
the  (Quality  called  "open-mindedness,"  readiness  to 
learn.  The  better  her  education  has  been  the  greater 
the  likelihood  that  the  teacher  will  find  it  easy  to  be  or 
to  become  open-minded,  and  to  welcome  the  super- 
visor's efforts  to  keep  the  instruction  fresh  and  the 
methods  abreast  of  every  progressive  move. 

In  fairness  to  teachers  as  a  class  it  must  be  said 
that  little  difficulty  is  generally  found  in  securing  the 
introduction  and  adoption  of  newer  ways  and  better 
plans,  if  there  is  a  reasonable  ground  for  belief  that 
the  new  is  better  than  the  old.  The  percentage  of 
teachers  who  are  open-minded  is  certainly  as  large  if 
not  larger  than  of  supervisors  who  are  open-minded. 

The  supervisor  is  under  a  double  temptation  to  be- 
come fixed  in  his  mental  attitude.  He  finds  certain 
plans  working  well  and  becomes  unwilling  to  change 
for  fear  the  new  way  will  not  be  as  good  as  the  old. 
Also  the  mere  fact  that  he  is  clothed  with  final  author- 
ity of  choice  results  in  his  readiness  to  decide  from  in- 
clination that  he  will  "let  good  enough  alone." 


FREQUENCE  OF  VISITS  21 

The  arrangement  of  supervisory  visits  becomes  the 
next  problem.  How  frequently  shall  the  supervisor 
visit  the  teacher?  Shall  it  be  once  a  week,  once  a 
month,  once  a  term  or  year?  Almost  every  superinten- 
dent has  his  work  on  an  individual  basis  as  to  frequence 
and  sequence  of  visits. 

The  best  statement  on  this  point  is  that  of  the  su- 
perintendent who  "visits  his  teachers  as  often  as  possi- 
ble." County  superintendents  do  well  indeed  when 
they  get  to  see  their  teachers  twice  a  year  or  term. 
This  variation  of  frequence  of  visits  shows  quite  un- 
mistakably that  there  is  no  demonstrated  frequence 
which  is  known  to  be  best,  and  proves,  if  any  fact  can 
prove  it,  that  supervisors  have  not  pressed  very  hard 
to  impress  boards  with  the  necessity  of  more  frequent 
visits. 

Should  supervisors  agitate  and  demand  greater  fre- 
quence than  is  now  possible,  school  boards  would  rather 
readily  accede  to  the  request,  especially  if  the  greater 
frequence  of  the  right  kind  of  supervisor's  visit  yielded 
invigorated  life  and  procedure  in  the  schoolroom. 
Mere  frequence  of  visits  will  not  do,  but  frequence 
which  evokes  from  teachers  expressions  of  approval 
and  of  desire  to  see  the  supervisor  more  frequently  will 
dispose  boards  favorably.  Assistant  county  superin- 
tendents were  rather  easy  to  add  to  the  legal  machinery 
for  supervision  after  a  few  counties  had  proved  the 
system  advantageous. 

Ideal  frequence  and  system  of  supervisory  visits 
should  permit  the  supervisor  to  visit  all  the  teachers 
at  every  hour  of  the  day  within  the  school  term,  so 
that  all  of  the  teacher's  work  may  be  observed  and  val- 
ued, and  so  that  she  may  be  seen  at  every  hour  of  the 
day.     Practically  no  supervisor  can  attain  this  ideal 


22  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

frequence,  although  it  is  the  logical  and  professional 
limit  of  frequence  and  limit  to  the  time  variation  of 
visits.  To  keep  this  maximum  in  mind  will  make  it 
easy  to  see  that  few  supervisors  have  time  enough  and 
freedom  enough  to  supervise  as  they  ought  and  as 
many  of  them  wish  to  supervise. 

The  supervisor  visits  the  teacher's  room,  notes  con- 
ditions of  all  kinds,  observes  the  work  of  instruction 
and  the  direction  of  seat  work  and  study.  From  these 
observations  many  inferences  are  made  as  to  relations 
of  teacher  and  pupils  and  as  to  general  conditions  of 
the  school.  Sometimes  these  observations  are  noted 
for  later  reference,  sometimes  they  lead  to  an  opinion 
as  to  the  quality  of  the  work,  and  this  opinion  may  be 
communicated  to  the  teacher,  or  it  may  be  reported  to 
the  board  before  it  is  told  to  the  teacher. 

Practice  in  this  matter  is  as  various  as  are  school 
systems  and  supervisors.  In  some  systems  nothing  is 
said  to  the  teacher  except  suggestions  of  different  ways 
of  doing  the  work,  impliedly  ways  that  are  better.  In 
some  systems  an  elaborate  list  of  questions  has  been 
prepared  on  a  sheet,  and  the  supervisor  checks  up  the 
work  on  as  many  as  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  forty 
questions,  marking  "yes"  or  "no"  or  some  qualifying 
word  which  records  the  supervisor's  judgment  and 
saves  the  labor  of  writing  the  word. 

Objection  is  made  and  has  been  made  to  this  pro- 
cedure, but  say  what  anyone  may,  it  does  inform  the 
teacher  of  the  supervisor's  opinion,  and  it  leaves  a 
tangible  reminder  of  the  visit. 

In  a  few  school  systems  the  transmittal  of  the  su- 
pervisor's judgment  is  further  followed  up  by  a  con- 
ference between  the  supervisor  and  the  teacher.  The 
conference-after-visit  is  one  of  the  best  ways  of  mak- 


TRANSMITTAL  OF  JUDGMENT  23 

ing  supervision  helpful  and  significant.  Did  supervis- 
ors generally  recognize  this  importance  and  rightly 
esteem  its  value,  we  should  ere  now  have  had  a  much 
more  insistent  demand  for  time  for  this  conference 
during  school  hours. 

Mostly  these  conferences  are  hurried,  are  pressed 
into  a  moment  or  two  at  recess  or  after  school.  The 
supervisor  has  no  fair  chance  to  make  clear  what  he 
has  in  mind  and  the  teacher  has  no  time  to  compose 
her  mind  to  assimilate  what  the  supervisor  would  com- 
municate. 

Proper  supervision  will  provide  school  time  for 
these  conferences  and  will  not  impose  them  as  a  bur- 
den and  expense  upon  teachers  and  supervisors.  Their 
purpose  is  the  betterment  of  the  teaching  and  that 
benefits  the  child.  It  means  that  the  child's  effort  shall 
be  made  more  productive  and  his  time  shall  be  more 
profitably  spent ;  he  shall  learn  more  in  less  time. 

If  the  conference  of  supervisor  and  teacher  can  and 
will  bring  such  a  gain  to  pass,  no  trouble  will  be  found 
to  secure  the  consent  of  school  authorities  to  provide 
the  necessary  relief  teachers  while  the  regular  teacher 
is  called  into  the  supervisory  conference. 

In  many  ways  more  important  than  the  after-visit 
conference  is  the  before-visit  conference,  especially 
with  teachers  who  are  new  in  a  system  or  with  young 
inexperienced  teachers.  There  is  nowhere  a  condition 
to  which  the  old  saying  applies  more  completely  than 
this  condition  of  the  new  and  of  the  inexperienced 
teacher ;  here  indeed  "an  ounce  of  prevention  is  worth 
a  pound  of  cure." 

The  conference  preceding  the  recitation,  to  discuss 
the  teacher's  plan  and  to  learn  her  reasons  for  the  plan 
and  its  order  would  prevent  many  disheartening  fail- 


24  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

ures,  not  only  such  as  the  supervisor  discovers  but 
such  as  he  cannot  see,  since  he  is  not  all-seeing,  whose 
effect  he  finds  only  after  the  teacher  is  thoroughly  dis- 
heartened. 

In  a  vague  way  the  importance  of  this  fact  is  ad- 
mitted ;  the  teacher's  institute  before  the  term  begins 
is  an  admitted  declaration  that  it  is  better  to  guard 
against  a  wrong  start  than  to  correct  it  after  it  has 
been  made.  Supervision  as  an  office  misses  a  great 
chance  to  dignify  itself  and  to  magnify  its  own  impor- 
tance if  it  does  not  demand  time  and  facilities  for  such 
conference  preceding  teaching,  with  both  old  and  new 
teachers,  when  new  books,  new  methods,  new  studies 
are  to  be  introduced. 

The  general  teachers'  meeting  will  not  do  for  this 
purpose.  The  individual  teacher  is  almost  never 
reached  that  way.  The  happiest  and  most  successful 
results  can  not  be  attained  unless  the  individual  teacher 
is  reached  and  started  right. 

The  supervisor  visits  the  teacher  at  work,  observes 
operations  during  a  longer  or  shorter  visit,  forms  an 
opinion  as  to  the  worth  of  the  work  and  passes  on  to 
another  teacher  or  perhaps  to  another  building.  The 
teacher  may  learn  the  supervisor's  opinion  and  may 
profit  by  the  visit,  or  the  supervisor  may  refrain  from 
saying  anything  if  he  has  no  corrections  to  suggest, 
for  fear  of  spoiling  the  teacher  by  praise.  With  tears 
in  her  eyes  a  teacher  once  told  her  new  superintendent, 
"I  never  knew  what  Supt.  B  thought  of  my  work,  as 
he  never  said  anything  to  me  about  it,"  yet  Supt.  B 
had  invariably  declared  that  teacher  to  be  one  of  the 
best  in  his  corps. 


OPINIONS  FORMED  25 

Many  other  variations  in  procedure  at  each  of  the 
steps  would  have  to  be  mentioned  if  all  the  forms  of 
procedure  were  to  be  mentioned.  Variety  enough  has 
been  described  to  make  plain  that  supervision  in  prac- 
tice attempts  to  know  what  kind  of  work  teachers  are 
doing  and  to  enable  the  supervisor  to  form  some  sort 
of  opinion  as  to  the  value  of  that  work.  This  is  not 
nearly  all  that  supervision  can  accomplish  and  not 
nearly  all  that  it  should  accomplish,  and  with  gratifica- 
tion it  may  be  added  not  nearly  all  that  it  is  accom- 
plishing in  many  places  under  many  supervisors. 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  Supervisor. 

Consideration  of  actual  and  possible  may  as  well 
begin  at  this  point.  Therefore,  what  shall  be  the  qual- 
ities and  qualifications  of  the  supervisor  of  instruction 
at  any  level  or  of  any  branch? 

Misunderstanding  is  so  likely  to  occur  that  it  seems 
advisable  to  repeat  that  supervision  of  instruction  is 
but  one  of  the  duties  of  the  superintendent,  therefore 
the  supervisor  may  be  the  superintendent,  or  the  prin- 
cipal, or  the  special  teacher,  or  the  special  supervisor, 
or  even  the  teacher  herself  or  an  associate  teacher. 

The  act  of  observing  instruction  for  the  purpose 
of  commending  what  is  praiseworthy  and  of  suggest- 
ing improvement  of  what  is  improvable  is  supervision, 
and  the  teacher  comparing  her  own  work  with  that  of 
a  fellow  teacher  for  the  purpose  of  finding  concurrence 
of  procedure  and  encouragement,  or  of  noting  differ- 
ence of  procedure  and  of  asking  questions  about  the 
differences  so  as  to  find  reasons  for  both  forms  of  pro- 
cedure and  thence  inferring  the  better,  is  really  super- 
vising her  own  work. 

The  personal  qualities  of  the  supervisor  strike  us 
first,  therefore  let  us  consider  them  first.  Merely  ta 
repeat  the  catalogued  lists  of  teachers'  qualifications 
would  but  emphasize  that  the  supervisor  must  have  all 
the  qualities  of  the  good  teacher,  but  must  have  them 
in  a  higher  degree  or  in  a  more  spontaneously  active 
condition. 

As  the  teacher  is  a  continual  model  for  the  children, 
so  the  supervisor  must  become  a  model  not  only  for  the 

26 


MANNER  OF  CRITICISM  27 

children  but  for  the  teachers  also.  Kindliness  of  heart 
and  courteousness  of  manner  are  a  prime  necessity 
for  the  supervisor,  so  as  to  be  in  immediate  sympathet- 
ic understanding  of  any  condition  which  he  may  find 
in  a  school  or  in  a  schoolroom. 

There  should  also  be  the  determinate  optimism 
which  first  appraises  the  good  and  then  recognizes  the 
undesirable  or  unsatisfactory.  The  grace  of  kindli- 
ness of  tone  and  word  in  suggesting  improvement  is 
a  vast  resource  for  the  supervisor.  Not  softness  nor 
unwillingness  to  condemn  quickly  what  deserves  con- 
demnation, nor  the  absence  of  a  vocabulary  of  strong 
condemnation  for  use  when  justified  is  meant  to  be 
described  by  kindliness  of  tone  and  manner. 

The  supervisor  who  radiates  encouragement  is  the 
warm  spring  sunshine  which  starts  life  into  activity. 
The  purely  critical  supervisor  is  the  wintry  wind  which 
chills  and  numbs  life  and  activity.  Each  effect  of  su- 
pervision may  be  present  or  absent  when  all  other  as- 
pects, attitudes  and  processes  of  the  activity  are  ideal- 
ly correct.  The  manner,  the  disposition  of  the  super- 
visor to  help,  to  encourage,  to  cheer  should  be  con- 
sciously active  right  in  combination  with  the  resolve 
to  see  faults  corrected  and  wrong  procedures  righted. 
These  qualities  are  not  incompatible. 

Results  of  supervision  as  seen  under  both  sets  of 
circumstances  are  as  entirely  different  as  spring  iS' 
different  from  winter.  In  supervision  we  want  a  per- 
petual spring,  an  undying  hope  and  aspiration  for  the 
better  based  on  the  good  already  achieved. 

For  a  very  definite  reason  the  supervisor  has  been 
spoken  of  as  "he,"  and  the  teacher  as  "she."  A  long 
continuous  discussion  like  a  book  on  supervision  re- 
quires definiteness  in  terms  to  save  time  and  space  by 


28  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

reducing  unnecessary  words  and  round-about  phrases. 
There  is  no  reason  inherent  in  supervision,  however, 
why  the  supervisor  must  be  "he."  In  primary  grades 
and  in  special  subjects  the  supervisor  is  much  more 
frequently  "she."  Nearly  all  teachers  are  "she,"  hence 
the  propriety  of  confining  the  "she"  to  teachers  and  of 
reserving  the  "he"  for  the  supervisor. 

For  very  good  reasons  the  feminine  side  of  the 
house  has  been  given  the  exclusive  supervision  of  the 
primary  grades.  For  the  same  reasons  all  primary 
teachers  are  women.  Woman  has  the  maternal  atti- 
tude toward  childhood,  that  is  the  ministering,  the 
relieving  or  the  helping  attitude  rather  than  the  shield- 
ing and  the  protective  disposition  of  the  man  and 
father.  The  child  first  entering  school  from  the  nurs- 
ery of  the  home  needs  this  feminine  quality  to  help 
him  make  the  transition  from  the  home  to  the  school. 
Just  that  quality  of  mothering  helps  to  make  the  re- 
adjustment from  nursery  or  home  to  school  with  least 
suffering  and  fear.  To  supervise  the  work  of  these 
women  in  the  primary  grades,  therefore,  the  woman 
supervisor  will  be  best,  since  the  woman  supervisor 
will  not  only  understand  the  child  nature  better,  but 
will  also  get  and  understand  the  woman  primary  teach- 
er's point  of  view  instinctively. 

In  no  portion  of  the  entire  field  of  supervision  is 
sex  so  clearly  a  qualification  as  in  the  primary  field. 
The  primary  supervisor  must  be  a  woman.  Happily 
practice  settled  this  matter  quite  a  while  ago.  Most 
high  school  supervisors  are  men,  probably  because 
hitherto  most  high  school  principals  have  been  men. 

In  colleges  there  is  no  supervision  of  instruction. 
The  old  and  the  young  professor  alike  are  supposed 
to  know  the  subject,  and  the  ancient  and  mediaeval 


ETHICS  OF  TEACHING  29 

belief  that  to  know  the  subject  constitutes  the  only- 
fitness  to  teach  lingers  on  to  our  day  undisturbed  by  a 
single  serious  question  or  criticism.  The  average  col- 
lege president  no  more  thinks  of  supervising  his  fac- 
ulty to  improve  the  quality  of  the  instruction  than  does 
the  average  student  who  knows  he  is  suffering  under 
the  very  poor  instruction  of  his  college  teachers. 

Indeed  complaints  of  students  to  the  president  are 
about  the  only  knowledge  which  college  presidents 
have  when  the  work  is  poor.  The  supposed  "profes- 
sional" ethics  of  college  teaching  has  from  time  im- 
memorial made  the  professor  supreme  in  his  depart- 
ment, and  alleged  academic  freedom  has  barred  crit- 
icism of  method  as  well  as  criticism  of  matter. 

This  mediaeval  attitude  will  be  corrected  when  the 
democratic  nature  of  our  education  once  thoroughly 
permeates  the  college  authorities.  When  it  comes,  the 
college  supervisor  will  surely  be  a  man  for  the  number 
of  women  who  have  the  educational  and  academic  prep- 
aration for  such  work  is  a  negligible  quantity  if  stated 
in  terms  of  number  needed  for  the  work. 

Most  special  supervisors  are  women,  notwithstand- 
ing that  many  women  teachers  prefer  a  man  super- 
visor. This  has  come  about  because  the  true  value  of 
supervision  has  not  been  recognized  and  asserted  to 
boards  of  directors.  Therefore  the  salaries  for  super- 
vision could  not  be  large,  and  men  were  not  attracted 
to  the  positions.  Also,  men  generally  are  less  patient 
in  dealing  with  details,  while  women  are  generally- 
patient  and  painstaking  with  details. 

These  differences  which  seem  concomitants  of  sex 
difference  must  be  taken  into  account  in  deciding 
whether  for  any  subject  or  grade  or  level  of  instruc- 
tion the  supervisor  should  be  a  man  or  a  woman.    It 


30  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

is  now  admitted  that  women  are  the  only  good  primary- 
supervisors  ;  other  parts  of  the  special  fields  may  grad- 
ually be  yielded  and  assigned  to  them.  The  disposition 
of  woman  to  value  the  personal  factor,  that  is  her  pre- 
dominant inclination  to  be  emotional  rather  than  ju- 
dicial, will  also  affect  final  establishment  of  practice, 
unless  women  by  training  and  practice  shall  find  it 
easier  to  lay  aside  personal  considerations  and  to  value 
the  professional  values  with  the  impartiality  and  de- 
tachment of  the  diagnostician  or  of  the  judge  on  the 
bench.  Why  men  have  this  ability  or  quality  rather 
than  women  need  not  be  explained,  but  the  fact  must 
be  recognized  in  the  analysis  of  supervisory  activity. 

In  education  the  supervisor  needs  all  the  general 
education  that  the  college  course  in  liberal  arts  can 
confer.  That  not  all  nor  even  many  supervisors  now 
could  qualify  under  that  statement  of  requirements 
does  not  affect  the  need  for  that  much  preparation 
academically. 

Travel  and  study  of  contemporary  schools  may  also 
be  enumerated.  Travel  to  make  him  genuinely  human 
and  tolerant  will  be  of  much  value  to  the  supervisor. 
Then  the  supervisor  needs  special  study  of  the  fields 
of  knowledge  and  instruction  which  he  is  to  supervise. 

As  the  result  of  their  college  and  university  educa- 
tion the  best  supervisors  will  continue  constant  stu- 
dents of  the  field  which  they  supervise  and  of  parallel 
fields  also. 

The  professional  training  and  experience  of  the 
supervisor  have  up  to  this  time  been  a  very  variable 
quantity.*     At  this  moment  successful  teaching  ex- 


*  University  courses  have  begun  to  try  to  supply  this  need. 


TRAINED    SUPERVISORS  31 

perience  is  perhaps  most  generally  demanded  and  ac- 
cepted as  professional  preparation  for  supervisory 
duties. 

No  one  is  so  insistent  on  larger  requirements  for 
supervisors  as  the  best  supervisors  themselves.  They 
deplore  their  lack  of  acquaintance  with  the  entire  field 
of  knowledge  and  teaching  practice  in  the  special  field 
supervised.  The  start  of  supervision  could  be  made 
only  if  successful  teachers  were  turned  into  supervis- 
ors. The  universities  are  trying  to  remedy  the  condi- 
tion and  are  trying  to  train  supervisors  to  fit  the 
needs  of  good  supervision.  This  is  encouraging  and 
warrants  the  expectation  of  a  better  day  for  super- 
vision. 

Assuming  actual  teaching  experience  within  the 
field  or  at  the  level  which  supervision  is  to  oversee 
as  the  fundamental  quality,  our  supervisor  must  also 
have  been  supervised  at  that  level  or  in  that  field.  Be- 
fore being  given  sole  responsibility  in  any  field  or  at 
any  level,  the  prospective  supervisor  should  have  had 
a  period  of  trial  or  training  supervision,  of  supervision 
in  conjunction  with  a  trained  supervisor,  so  as  to  com- 
pare his  judgments  of  values  with  the  trained  super- 
visor. 

This  is  of  course  parallel  to  the  teacher's  training 
in  the  cadet  period.  It  is  no  more  necessary  for  teach- 
ers than  it  is  for  supervisors  to  pass  through  such  a 
"practice"  or  cadet  stage.  Ideals  and  standards  of 
judgment  must  be  learned  by  application  and  com- 
parison. Assurance  can  not  be  learned  otherwise.  The 
probably  correct  estimate  of  value  must  be  proved 
correct  by  comparison  with  that  of  the  experienced 
supervisor  or  judge  or  critic. 


32  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

The  supervisor  must  also  know  from  the  profes- 
sional point  of  view  the  level  or  field  of  knowledge 
which  he  is  to  supervise,  as  well  as  the  history  and 
philosophy  of  teaching  method  and  practice  in  that 
field.  The  wider  the  range  of  knowledge  of  method 
of  the  supervisor,  the  better  will  be  the  judgment  of 
values  of  practices  observed.  The  supervisor  who  has 
the  largest  fund  of  knowledge  of  methods  and  prac- 
tices has  surely  the  best  possibility  of  making  suitable 
suggestions  for  change  and  improvement  of  instruc- 
tion. 

The  supervisor  must  also  have  a  working  ethics  of 
supervision.  Such  an  ethics  exists  even  if  it  has  not 
been  definitely  formulated  and  accepted.  That  stage 
of  the  development  of  specialized  supervision  is  still 
to  come,  but  it  will  come ;  until  it  comes,  each  super- 
visor will  practice  an  individual  code  of  ethics  in  his 
supervision,  because  his  work  as  supervisor  is  a  dis- 
tinctly human  relation.  The  teacher  is  the  striving 
professional  sister  of  the  supervisor,  and  that  sister- 
hood cannot  be  ignored  and  dare  not  be  abused. 

The  supervisor  must  know  the  resources  of  helpful 
and  inspiring  literature  for  teachers  within  his  field, 
and  must  be  able  to  make  teachers  wish  to  know  it  and 
to  learn  from  it.  What  is  suited  to  the  skilful  and  to 
the  unskilful,  the  supervisor  must  choose  and  recom- 
mend with  an  unerring  judgment.  As  the  leader  and 
director  of  teachers'  meetings  the  supervisor  must  in- 
tegrate this  knowledge  and  this  desire  into  his  coun- 
sels whether  private  or  public,  so  that  actually  the 
world's  best  efforts  of  her  upward  striving  teachers 
may  become  a  ready  resource  to  the  teachers  whom  he 
supervises. 


CONDUCT   OF   CLASS  33 

When  visiting  a  school  for  supervision  the  super- 
visor needs  to  be  able  to  understand  the  situation. 
From  what  is  happening  or  going  on  before  his  eyes 
he  must  be  able  to  make  infallible  inference  as  to  what 
may  or  might  happen  or  what  has  happened  when  he 
was  not  present  to  witness  it.  A  school  that  is  dis- 
orderly when  the  supervisor  is  present  shows  that 
orderliness  is  not  a  state  or  condition  insisted  upon 
when  the  supervisor  is  absent. 

Similarly  with  other  conditions.  To  the  supervisor 
who  knows  the  work  and  who  has  first  hand  acquaint- 
ance with  conditions,  such  an  understanding  is  possi- 
ble without  extended  study  or  investigation.  Meliorat- 
ing conditions  must  also  be  taken  into  account.  The 
supervisor  must  "size  up  the  situation"  from  what  he 
sees,  and  should  not  make  many  mistakes  and  should 
almost  never  make  any  serious  mistakes. 

The  separation  of  the  occasional  from  the  perma- 
nent, of  the  momentary  outburst  from  the  settled  prac- 
tice, will  not  be  difficult  if  the  supervisor  has  had  the 
right  kind  of  training  and  experience.  The  supervisor 
must  also  be  able  with  a  few  leading  questions  to  lay 
bare  to  himself  such  appearances  as  are  not  clear  or 
which  may  be  of  twofold  significance. 

A  completely  silent  and  orderly  room  as  the  super- 
visor enters  may  be  a  thoroughly  disciplined  room 
which  has  learned  and  which  is  practicing  self -regula- 
tion. It  may  also  be  a  room  in  which  the  teacher  has 
just  "settled"  a  disorderly  pupil,  and  the  rest  of  the 
pupils  may  fear  a  further  outbreak  from  the  teacher. 
Experience  has  revealed  similar  contrasts  to  super- 
visors everywhere. 

Whatever  is  going  on  in  the  schoolroom  the  super- 
visor should  have  a  quick  apprehension  of  its  value  for 


34  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

school  purposes.  He  must  be  quick  to  detect  and  to 
decide  whether  the  proceeding  is  wise,  doubtful,  or 
unwise.  Inability  to  decide  should  lead  to  questioning 
of  the  teacher  during  the  after-visit  conference. 

Comment  on  everything  done  during  the  visit  will 
convince  the  teacher  that  the  supervisor  knows  the 
job  and  knows  also  just  how  the  teacher  is  performing 
it.  Injury  to  teachers  is  possible  if  the  supervisor 
passes  over  some  trifle  and  lets  the  teacher  believe 
either  that  the  supervisor  did  not  know  it  or  having 
seen  it  did  not  think  it  a  fault. 

Discouragement  may  also  result  if  the  supervisor 
fails  to  commend  the  commendable.  "What  is  the  use 
of  trying?  He  never  notices."  has  been  the  plaint  of 
many  a  disheartened  teacher.  Watchfulness  by  the 
supervisor  and  as  nice  a  care  for  expression  of  appre- 
ciation as  for  correction  are  necessities  of  the  super- 
visor's procedure. 

Sympathy,  fellow-feeling,  the  ability  to  put  your- 
self in  the  teacher's  place,  are  an  indispensable  need  in 
the  action  of  the  supervisor.  Not  maudlin  twaddle, 
not  cheap  nor  extravagant  praise  of  everything  and  of 
every  one.  Both  are  mischievous  and  nothing  but  mis- 
chievous. 

Whatever  the  situation,  the  teacher  is  likely  to  see 
only  her  side.  The  supervisor  from  the  larger  out- 
look of  the  overseeing  official,  from  the  longer  experi- 
ence and  from  the  wide  acquaintance  with  professional 
standards,  must  see  both  the  teacher's  and  the  profes- 
sional aspect,  and  thence  must  lead  the  teacher  both 
to  the  enjoyment  of  the  realization  of  the  larger  ends 
achieved  by  the  procedure  whether  lesson  or  drill,  and 
to  be  sorry  for  the  fact  of  only  partial  attainment  of 
some  desired  results. 


CONFERENCE  AFTER  VISIT  35 

Then  praise  of  what  is  worthy  of  praise,  necessary 
and  illuminating  questioning  of  what  is  questionable, 
clear  condemnation  of  what  is  deserving  of  condemna- 
tion with  reasons  therefor  and  suggestions  of  the  bet- 
ter, must  also  be  part  of  the  supervisor's  proceeding 
in  putting  himself  into  the  teacher's  place. 

Following  the  visit,  the  teacher  and  the  supervisor 
should  have  time  for  deliberative  talk  and  considera- 
tion of  the  supervisor's  observations,  suggestions  and 
corrections.  That  most  supervision  fails  at  this  point 
must  be  admitted.  Supervisors  do  not  take  time  and 
teachers  do  not  have  time  for  it.  During  recesses, 
after  school,  or  on  Saturdays,  are  the  possibilities. 
Supervision  itself  and  supervisors  are  chiefly  to  blame 
for  this  shortcoming.  If  supervisors  had  from  the 
start  insisted  on  the  necessary  complement  of  super- 
visory visiting  in  supervising  conferences,  boards  of 
directors  and  communities  would  now  be  educated  to 
so  regard  the  matter  and  to  permit  the  expenditure 
of  the  money  needed  to  secure  it.  Whatever  is  needed 
to  make  public  schools  effective  will  be  paid  by  any 
community.  It  needs  but  be  convinced  of  the  necessity 
and  of  the  certainty  that  the  expenditure  of  the  money 
will  secure  the  necessity. 

Conferences  of  supervisors  and  teachers  within 
school  time  are  justifiable.  The  end  sought  is  improve- 
ment of  instruction.  As  normal  schools  have  been 
supplied  because  of  the  need  to  train  teachers,  so  time 
for  supervisory  conferences  will  be  secured  when  su- 
pervisors demand  it  and  when  teachers  testify  that 
the  results  of  the  conferences  are  better  teaching,  hap- 
pier teachers  and  greater  progress  by  the  children. 

In  the  conference  of  supervisor  and  teacher  we 
reach  the  "flower  and  fruit"   stage  of  supervision. 


36  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

Other  steps  of  procedure  are  necessary  preparation 
for  this.  That  so  much  of  our  supervision  is  nugatory 
or  fails  to  attain  its  full  fruitage  is  entirely  due  to  this 
lack  of  the  deliberative  conference.  In  it  the  super- 
visor learns  the  teacher's  plan  and  aims,  commends 
and  encourages  what  is  right  and  in  keeping  with  the 
best  practice,  asks  questions  or  suggests  comparisons 
about  matters  which  the  teacher  can  herself  improve 
if  given  the  right  angle  of  view,  or  shows  the  weak- 
nesses and  faults  of  what  was  wrong  and  fruitless. 

Direct  statement  of  the  better  way  will  sometimes 
be  necessary,  but  the  more  skilful  the  supervisor  and 
the  better  the  teacher,  the  more  will  questioning  be 
resorted  to  so  that  the  teacher  may  grow  by  thinking 
it  out  for  herself  rather  than  accept  the  supervisor's 
opinion  readymade. 

For  instance,  after  a  "concert  recitation"  in  which 
it  was  apparent  to  the  supervisor  that  after  the  third 
repetition  only  a  few  children  were  giving  active  at- 
tention and  effort,  instead  of  saying,  "Never  let  the 
children  say  the  thing  oftener  than  three  times,"  asked 
the  teacher  to  observe  for  how  many  repetitions  she 
was  able  to  secure  active  attention  and  interested  par- 
ticipation by  the  children.  Then  that  teacher  began  to 
study  concert  recitations. 

The  next  visit  of  the  supervisor  disclosed  that  con- 
cert repetitions  had  been  reduced  from  five  to  three, 
and  the  teacher  replied  to  the  supervisor's  question  of 
the  previous  conference  by  saying,  "When  I  watched 
the  class  I  soon  saw  that  I  could  not  hold  their  atten- 
tion closely  nor  secure  an  effort  of  the  will  in  the  repe- 
tition beyond  the  third  repetition." 


HOLDING  PUPILS'  ATTENTION  37 

The  supervisor  must  have  the  qualifications  and 
the  qualities  which  shall  make  instruction  better,  the 
children  and  the  teacher  happier  because  the  work  is 
successful,  and  which  shall  hurt  or  humiliate  no  one 
because  something  was  found  which  was  not  as  it 
might  be  or  as  it  should  be.  Surgery  and  dentistry 
have  for  their  highest  measure  of  skill  to  help  without 
hurt;  supervision  of  instruction  will  do  well  to  adopt 
that  standard  of  excellence  in  achievement. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Teacher  :  Supervision  an  Irritation. 

The  use  of  the  name  supervision  can  not  effective- 
ly conceal  the  fact  that  much  so-called  supervision  is 
not  effective  for  inspiration  but  produces  irritation. 
Putting  labels  on  things  is  not  the  same  as  producing 
the  thing ;  this  is  as  true  of  supervision  as  of  nutmegs, 
for  instance.  Many  forms  of  perversion  of  supervision 
may  be  found.  The  most  common  form  is  that  w^hich 
uses  school  visitation,  ceremony,  and  assumption  of 
superiority,  but  which  leaves  teachers  disheartened, 
depressed  and  even  irritated. 

Teachers  evince  such  irritation  by  all  kinds  of  re- 
marks to  each  other.  Here  is  a  common  accompani- 
ment of  such  irritating  supervision :  "The  idea  of  call- 
ing that  supervision!  He  never  proposed  anything 
better  in  place  of  the  things  he  condemned." 

Teachers  w^ho  "fear"  the  coming  of  the  supervisor 
nearly  always  express  irritation  from  his  visits.  The 
drill  of  the  practice  teaching  in  the  model  school  should 
accustom  or  harden  the  teacher  into  self-possession 
during  the  visit  of  the  supervisor,  or  it  should  convince 
the  cadet  teacher  that  she  should  not  enter  the  teach- 
ing profession. 

Increasingly  teachers  will  be  supervised  because 
school  systems  increasingly  include  larger  numbers  of 
teachers,  and  no  large  group  of  teachers  can  attain 
similar  ends  unless  supervised.  Fear  of  the  supervisor 
may  be  due  to  neglect  of  adequate  preparation  of  les- 
sons, plans,  or  materials. 

38 


INSPIRATION  OR  IRRITATION  39 

In  that  case  the  fear  is  proper  in  itself,  but  to  re- 
deem herself  as  far  as  possible  the  teacher  should  at 
once  frankly  explain  the  non-preparation  and  should 
ask  for  another  chance.  Under  those  circumstances 
she  may  and  should  feel  ashamed,  but  she  need  not  be 
fearful.  Every  fairminded  and  simply  human  super- 
visor v^ill  be  glad  for  the  honesty  which  confesses  the 
short-coming  and  which  shows  determination  to  cor- 
rect it  by  asking  for  another  trial. 

There  are  three  infallible  marks  of  the  right  kind 
of  supervision :  Commendation  of  the  good,  condemna- 
tion of  the  unsatisfactory,  suggestion  of  the  better. 
The  supervisor  who  can  not  see  something  to  commend 
in  a  schoolroom  is  suffering  from  something  serious. 
It  may  be  physical  or  mental  or  moral  dyspepsia.  It 
may  be  a  sour  stomach,  an  overweening  conceit  of  his 
own  ability  or  an  overwhelming  sense  of  his  infalli- 
bility. They  are  equally  effective  in  producing  irrita- 
tion instead  of  inspiration.  There  must  be  the  will  to 
commend,  not  merely  the  accidental  condescension  to 
commend. 

What  is  commended  must  be  recognizable  by  the 
teacher  as  commendable,  or  she  at  once  loses  respect 
for  the  supervisor's  judgment  or  for  his  sincerity. 
Mere  flattery  will  not  serve.  A  sure  discernment  of  the 
good  and  the  best  quality,  an  unfailing  recognition  of 
the  best  ends  of  effort,  and  an  instant  readiness  to  di- 
rect the  teacher  to  accepted  sources  of  help,  these  three 
are  needed  to  give  skill  and  strategic  power  in  com- 
mendation of  teaching  procedure. 

These  will  win  respect  and  trust,  and  will  start  the 
teacher  by  imitation  and  emulation  to  a  desire  to  know 
and  to  learn  and  to  follow  the  better  way.  To  fail  in 
commendation  of  the  right  thing  at  the  right  time  is 


40  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

fatal  to  the  teacher's  esteem  for  the  supervisor,  and 
is  sure  to  leave  the  teacher  disheartened  and  disap- 
pointed, if  not  positively  irritated. 

The  teacher,  like  the  supervisor,  is  human  and  is 
the  better  for  a  little  praise,  for  a  litle  commendation. 
Not  to  offer  it  v^rhen  it  has  been  deserved  shows  the 
supervisor  as  unperceiving,  or  undiscerning  or  unap- 
preciative.  Either  produces  irritation.  The  teacher 
who  regards  her  supervisor  as  unperceiving  or  undis- 
cerning or  unappreciative  will  surely  not  hold  him  in 
high  esteem.  The  invigoration  that  comes  from  com- 
mendation is  an  immeasurable  addition  to  the  teach- 
er's power  as  an  instructor. 

Supervision,  instead  of  thus  encouraging,  may  de- 
press and  dishearten,  and  is  sure  to  do  so  if  the  super- 
visor visits  the  school  and  says  nothing,  with  the 
thought  that  the  teacher  will  understand  that  absence 
of  condemnation  of  work  is  an  implied  judgment  of 
"satisfactory"  upon  it. 

Poor  indeed  must  be  the  school  where  nothing  com- 
mendable occurs  during  the  supervisor's  visit.  He 
should  be  sure  to  see  it  and  to  speak  about  it  as  com- 
mendable. If  speaking  to  the  teacher  is  difficult  or 
impossible,  the  supervisor  will  do  well  to  write  to  the 
teacher  so  that  she  shall  be  sure  to  realize  that  her  ef- 
forts are  perceived,  to  conclude  that  effort  is  worth 
while  and  does  not  go  unnoticed. 

The  omission  of  face-to-face  discussion  of  the  visit 
also  disappoints  teachers  many  times.  Even  super- 
visors who  leave  written  copies  of  observations  and 
judgments  of  the  work  observed,  many  times  inflict 
sharp  suffering  on  teachers  because  the  "notes"  are  not 
clear  as  written  and  the  teacher  fears  she  is  not  under- 
stood. 


LESSON  PLANNING  41 

Much  irritation  from  supervision  could  also  be  ob- 
viated if  supervisors  felt  that  time  taken  for  confer- 
ences v^^ith  teachers  before  visiting  their  rooms  for 
supervision  is  v^ell  and  properly  spent.  The  confer- 
ence in  advance  of  the  visit  impresses  the  teacher  with 
the  necessity  of  making  good  plans  as  no  lecture  or  no 
series  of  lectures  on  lesson  planning  can  possibly  im- 
press her. 

The  lesson  plan  approved  before  the  lesson  is 
taught,  or  the  lesson  plan  which  contains  the  integrat- 
ed suggestions  of  the  supervisor,  if  used  for  the  lesson 
which  the  supervisor  sees  taught,  puts  both  teacher 
and  supervisor  on  a  different  basis  toward  that  piece 
of  work  and  toward  each  other.  There  is  now  joint 
responsibility,  hence  there  will  probably  be  more  sym- 
pathetic, more  tolerant  judgment  on  both  sides.  This 
brings  the  "fellow-feeling"  into  supervision  and  makes 
it  a  vital,  human  relation  instead  of  an  official  caste  re- 
lation of  superior  to  inferior. 

The  supervision  which  commends,  condemns  and 
suggests  the  better  is  inspiration.  The  supervision 
which  says  nothing,  or  which  merely  condemns  and 
suggests  nothing  better,  or  which  does  not  confer  with 
the  teacher  about  both  good  and  poor  aspects  of  the 
work,  always  after  visits  and  sometimes  in  cases  of 
very  weak  but  very  willing  teachers  before  the  super- 
visory visit,  is  irritation.  The  change  from  the  latter 
to  the  former  is  possible  to  all  supervisors,  and  all 
teachers  are  hoping  and  desiring  that  the  change  shall 
come  speedily. 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Teacher:    Supervision  an  Inspiration. 

There  were  school  teachers  long  before  there  were 
superintendents  or  supervisors  of  teaching,  and  there 
are  still  some  people  who  think  the  supervisor  of  in- 
struction a  useless  part  of  the  school  organization. 
Happily  this  disbelief  is  being  displaced  by  belief  in 
the  worth  of  supervision. 

The  factory,  the  mill,  the  big  farm  or  plantation, 
the  big  building  operation,  all  these  need  superintend- 
ents to  plan  and  to  direct  the  workmen.  It  is  a  direc- 
tion that  is  ever  present.  Direction  in  any  enterprise, 
if  as  infrequent  as  in  many  schools,  less  than  once  a 
year,  would  not  be  worth  any  more  than  is  much  school 
supervision.  To  be  effective  in  industry,  the  super- 
vision must  direct  the  progress  of  the  work  minutely, 
and  must  be  able  to  follow  up  the  directions  to  see  that 
they  are  carried  out. 

One  reason  why  school  supervision  is  not  valued 
more  highly  is  that  the  activity  which  usually  passes 
by  the  name  of  supervision  is  no  more  like  the  real 
thing  than  supervision  of  his  farm  were  carried  on  if 
the  farm  owner  saw  his  boss  farmer  but  once  a  year. 
Then  suppose  the  boss  farmer  to  be  a  farmer  without 
experience  in  farming  and  ignorant  of  farm  work ;  the 
chances  of  reaping  any  marked  benefits  from  such  over- 
sight and  direction  would  be  almost  zero.  The  case  is 
no  better  for  much  supervision  of  teaching. 

It  is  useless  to  demand  certain  qualifications  for 
the  teacher  who  is  to  be  supervised.  Supervision  finds 
one  of  its  chief  necessities  in  the  fact  that  the  teaching 

42 


DIFFERENCE  IN  QUALIFICATIONS  43 

corps  of  any  system  of  schools  has  teachers  who  pos- 
sess such  widely  different  qualifications  for  the  work. 
Could  all  the  teachers  of  a  system  be  chosen  so  as  to 
represent  equal  experience,  equal  preparation,  and 
equal  supervision  under  experience,  very  little  super- 
vision would  suffice. 

The  range  of  difference  usually  starts  at  young 
teachers  with  great  hopes  and  with  large  aspirations 
but  no  experience,  to  the  teachers  who  have  had  a 
score  or  more  years  of  experience.  To  equalize  the 
chances  of  the  children  under  instruction  in  a  system 
with  such  a  wide  variety  of  teaching  capability,  is  one 
of  the  hardest  tasks  of  supervision. 

The  teacher  with  least  preparation  and  least  ex- 
perience will  of  course  need  most  guidance  from  the 
supervisor.  The  teacher  with  most  preparation  and 
most  experience  should  need  least  of  the  supervisor's 
help.  Complicating  the  problem  of  amount  and  qual- 
ity of  supervision  needed  is  the  problem  of  natural 
endowment  of  the  teacher. 

Every  system  of  schools  must  have  supervision  and 
every  teacher  should  be  in  touch  with  the  supervisor. 
The  aims,  purposes  and  ideals  of  the  system  can  not 
be  acquired  in  any  other  way.  Established  usages 
which  save  time  for  teacher  and  children  are  different 
in  every  system.  Hence  if  there  is  to  be  unity  of  aim 
and  purpose  and  coherence  in  forward  look  in  the 
plans,  some  one  intelligence  must  make  the  large  gen- 
eral plans,  must  formulate  the  big  aims  and  purposes 
of  the  system. 

Were  each  teacher  left  to  choose  course  of  study 
and  textbooks,  confusion  of  aims  and  purposes  would 
result.  Therefore  supervision  is  a  necessity.  Of 
course  the  prevalence  of  the  office  and  the  presence  of 


44  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

officials  is  a  much  more  significant  admission  of  the 
fact.  To  help  each  teacher  under  conditions  such  as 
those  stated  requires  readiness  and  wealth  of  resource 
combined  with  the  diplomatic  skill  of  a  prime  minister 
in  the  supervisor. 

Supposing  an  average  teacher,  with  academic  prep- 
aration and  professional  training  and  some  teaching 
experience,  what  should  be  her  relation  to  supervision 
and  what  her  attitude  toward  it?  The  answer  is  ob- 
vious, she  should  be  open-minded.  To  the  teacher's 
stock  of  knowledge,  of  methods  and  devices  supervision 
will  be  able  to  suggest  variations  and  additions  of  high 
value. 

The  teacher  who  is  new  in  a  system  needs  help  to 
reach  the  system's  aims  and  point  of  view.  The  teach- 
er who  has  been  continuously  in  the  system  needs  to 
be  helped  to  new  points  of  view,  to  see  or  to  find  new 
justifications  for  the  established  practice. 

Supervisor  and  teacher  can  not  long  be  satisfied 
to  continue  routine  procedure  on  the  ground  that  it 
has  worked  for  a  long  while.  That  reason  for  doing 
a  thing  discloses  that  no  recent  or  new  justification 
has  been  worked  out  or  discovered.  Growth  of  teach- 
er, of  supervisor,  of  the  system  requires  the  alertness 
which  finds  in  the  changing  conditions  outside  of  the 
school  in  life  its  reasons  for  change  of  method  and  plan 
as  well  as  for  its  continuance  of  what  is  unchanged. 

The  child  learns  to  read  by  the  sentence  method 
now,  although  as  late  as  1850  the  alphabet  method  was 
the  professionally  accepted  method.  Learning  to  read 
remains,  but  alert  teaching  and  supervision  discov- 
ered that  the  unit  of  thought  is  the  sentence  and  the 
unit  of  utterance  is  the  syllable,  and  hence  changed 
its  method. 


HELPFUL   SUGGESTIONS  45 

Another  quality  needed  by  the  teacher  under  super- 
vision is  willingness  to  accept  and  to  try  suggestions. 
The  supervisor  sees  the  best  work  in  a  system  and  can 
pass  on  from  teacher  to  teacher  the  excellences  ob- 
served, thus  enriching  his  entire  system  by  the  dis- 
semination of  the  best  ideas.  Simple  trust  in  the  good 
intentions  of  the  supervisor,  simple  belief  that  he 
means  to  make  helpful  suggestions,  whole-hearted  ac- 
ceptance of  the  implied  trust  that  he  believes  the 
teacher  capable  of  profiting  by  suggestions,  are  marks 
of  this  open-mindedness.  Readiness  to  try  and  then 
alertness  to  modify  suggestions  so  that  they  will  ex- 
actly fit  the  needs  of  the  teacher  and  her  pupils  is  the 
next  quality  for  the  teacher  under  supervision. 

Then  when  she  has  wrought  out  a  happy  and  suc- 
cessful adaptation  of  the  suggestion,  she  should  be 
ready  to  pass  the  word  of  the  good  success  along  to 
her  co-workers.  Thus  pupils,  teacher,  supervisor  and 
supervision  will  be  helped  and  dignified  in  the  minds 
of  all  observers  and  critics. 

What  is  the  right  response  and  reaction  of  the 
teacher  to  the  suggestions  of  a  supervisor?  Does  any- 
one suppose  that  it  should  be  implicit  obedience  be- 
cause the  supervisor  is  supposed  to  know  so  much 
more  than  the  teacher?  Would  not  that  be  saying  that 
the  teacher  shall  be  an  automaton  operated  as  if  by 
wires  and  strings?  When  the  supervisor  pulls  the 
wire  the  teacher  leaps  or  glides  and  squeaks  in  imita- 
tion of  intelligent  speech. 

Of  course  such  a  statement  makes  the  proposal 
ridiculous,  but  not  more  ridiculous  than  are  many  of 
the  expected  and  even  awaited  responses  to  sugges- 
tions given  by  supervisors.  Granted  that  the  super- 
visor directs  and  suggests  from  the  broader  view, 


46  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

based  on  a  longer  and  wider  experience  than  the  teach- 
er, shall  the  supervisor's  suggestion  be  regarded  as  a 
command  just  as  a  general  of  an  army  issues  a  com- 
mand? 

Or  shall  the  teacher  be  supposed  to  receive  direc- 
tion and  suggestion  of  the  supervisor,  and,  because 
of  more  intimate  knowledge  of  conditions  of  her  school 
and  because  of  better  acquaintance  with  the  pupils, 
shall  she  have  the  privilege,  shall  she  have  the  right, 
and  we  may  even  ask,  shall  it  not  be  her  duty,  to  suit 
the  suggestion  and  direction  to  her  conditions  and  to 
her  children? 

Equally  with  the  supervisor  who  acts  the  martinet 
and  the  mechanician  does  the  teacher  err  who  permits 
the  imposition  of  the  role  of  a  puppet  upon  her  or  who 
supinely  submits  to  be  a  mere  Judy  in  the  pantomime. 
Sympathy  with  her  pupils  is  assumed  for  the  teacher. 

Intelligence  of  the  teacher  is  also  assumed  as  a 
characteristic  of  the  teacher.  The  supervisor  may 
know  child  nature ;  the  teacher  should  know  intimately 
and  completely  the  children  whom  she  is  teaching.  To 
know  child  nature  helps  to  know  children,  but  to  know 
the  children  of  a  school  is  indispensable  if  instruction 
is  to  be  adapted  to  them. 

Disposition  to  compare  the  suggested  plan  with  the 
already  used  practice  is  another  way  of  describing  the 
same  thing.  Taking  pains  to  refer  to  books,  maga- 
zines, authorities  in  the  flesh  if  possible,  the  sugges- 
tions received  from  the  supervisor,  this  is  the  sign  and 
mark  of  the  real  student,  of  the  teacher  who  profits  by 
supervision,  to  whom  supervision  becomes  a  resource. 

The  teacher  must  adopt  and  adapt  new  suggestions 
as  the  result  of  this  open-mindedness,  this  desire  for 
the  best  for  her  pupils.    She  should  be  grateful  for  the 


NEW  SUGGESTIONS  47 

suggestions  received.  She  can  best  show  the  sincerity 
of  her  gratitude  through  her  effort  to  adapt  the  sug- 
gestion. She  will  report  to  her  supervisor  the  result 
of  her  effort  to  use  the  modified  or  adapted  suggestion. 
A  stronger  teacher,  a  more  rapidly  progressing 
school,  a  better  moral  tone  and  a  more  expectant  feel- 
ing among  the  teachers,  and  a  steadier  direction  and  a 
saner  supervision  will  be  inevitable  results  of  such  re- 
actions to  supervision. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

INVIGORATION  OF  INSTRUCTION  THROUGH  SUPERVISION. 

Of  all  the  superintendent's  numerous  and  various 
duties,  that  of  invigorating  instruction  through  super- 
vision is  easily  most  important.  This  must  be  true 
because  the  school  exists  mainly  for  instruction.  Hence 
means  to  that  end  are  constantly  sought  by  every  earn- 
est superintendent.  Many  plans  exist,  and  all  of  them 
possess  merit. 

No  plan  has  all  the  faults  and  none  has  all  the  ex- 
cellences. Without  claiming  superior  merit  for  the 
plan  here  described,  it  can  truthfully  and  modestly  be 
said  that  this  plan  has  worked  and  is  working.  The 
forms  here  shown  are  the  result  of  much  trial  and  ex- 
perimentation. No  superintendent  should  think,  how- 
ever, that  he  can  adopt  any  other  superintendent's  plan 
without  adaptation  to  his  own  situation. 

The  form  was  prepared  for  use  of  a  supervising 
superintendent,  that  is  for  a  superintendent  who  spent 
about  one-fifth  of  his  time  in  visiting  teachers  at  work 
in  their  schoolrooms.  Originally  written  statements 
of  observations  and  of  suggestions  were  used  to  put 
the  judgments  of  the  superintendent  into  the  hands 
of  the  teachers  right  after  the  superintendent's  visit. 
That  is  the  time  when  such  opinions  and  suggestions 
carry  weight  and  exert  force. 

Therefore  it  is  entirely  proper  to  start  with  the 
visit  of  the  superintendent,  whom  we  shall  now  call  the 
supervisor.  The  teacher's  room  is  visited  and  the  work 
observed.  The  regular  schedule  of  the  room  may  be 
carried  out  or  the  supervisor  may  call  for  a  particular 

48 


SCHEDULE  FOR  RECITATION  49 

class  or  classes.  If  he  is  making  a  continuous  effort 
to  unify  arithmetic  in  the  entire  system,  he  will  neces- 
sarily ask  to  see  that  class  or  will  visit  the  room  when 
that  subject  is  on  the  schedule  for  recitation. 

The  routine  of  procedure  will  be  noted.  The  class 
may  be  questioned  or  the  teacher's  work  may  be  sup- 
plemented, but  whatever  is  done  should  be  carefully 
noted  in  its  proper  place  on  the  observation  blank. 
From  this  blank  the  teacher's  work  is  valued  and  prop- 
er report  made  to  the  committee  on  instruction  and 
a  copy  put  into  the  supervisor's  card  record  along  with 
the  teacher's  rating  card. 

Thus  definite  observations  and  judgments  are  made 
and  recorded  on  standard  merits  or  excellences.  This 
is  quite  different  from  forming  a  general  impression 
and  registering  that  in  "recollection." 

A  printed  form  on  white  paper  is  marked  "orig- 
inal" and  a  "duplicate"  is  on  yellow  paper.  Insertion  of 
carbon  paper  between  the  white  and  yellow  sheets  re- 
sults in  making  two  copies  of  the  notes  at  one  writing. 
This  saves  time  and  labor. 

Following  the  observations  under  "Procedure  not- 
ed" come  the  "Commendations."  Then  several  other 
spaces  under  or  opposite  headings  as  shown  in  the 
form.  The  "Commendations"  are  perhaps  the  most 
valuable  single  feature.  To  put  something  into  the 
report  the  supervisor  must  study  the  school  while  he 
stays.  The  "Suggestions"  are  formatively  helpful. 
They  are  also  a  measure  of  the  supervisor's  larger  ex- 
perience and  greater  resourcefulness.  As  one  teacher 
remarked  when  passing  judgment  on  the  form: 

"A  teacher  will  soon  see  whether  or  not  the  super- 
visor has  much  on  her."  A  series  of  these  reports 
handed  to  the  teacher  by  the  supervisor  with  the  spaces 


50 


COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

(Original) 

(ANY)  SCHOOL  DISTRICT 

Superintendent's  Notes  of  Visits         No.- 


( Numbers  Refer  to  List  on  the  Back  of  the  Sheet) 
teacher;  school; 


topic- 


-grades; 


-pupils  in  class;    hranch- 


STATISTICS 


Procedure  noted: 

Commendation : 

Imp7'ovable: 
Suggestions: 
Reaction  to  suggestions: 
Suggestions  repeated: 


GRADES       ENROLLED       PRESENT 


Worth  of  work: 


Length  of  visit,  — 

Date Houi 


Time:  Place: 

for  conference  on 
min. 


Superintendent 
(Printed  in  duplicate  sets  on  white  and  yellow  paper.) 


OBSERVATION  BLANK 


51 


(Reverse  side  of  sheet) 
EXCELLENCES  OF  TEACHING 


Note — Numbers  of  this  list  will  be  used  in  the  Notes 

of  Visits 


I.   GENERAL   CONDITIONS 

1.  Management  of  light. 

2.  Management  of  ventilation. 

3.  Management  of  temperature. 

4.  Appearance  of  blackboards. 
6.  Care  of  cloak-rooms. 

6.  Care  of  corridors. 

7.  Uses  of  maps  and  charts. 

8.  Oversight  of  grounds. 

9.  Care  of  school  property. 

10.  Orderliness  of  arrangements. 

11.  Pupils'  work  displayed. 

12.  Floors  clean. 

13.  Teacher  offers  suggestions. 

II.  THE  TEACHER 

14.  Animation. 

15.  Bearing  before  school. 

16.  Language  and  expressions  used. 

17.  Voice. 

18.  Preparation  of  work. 

19.  Attitude  towards  pupils. 

20.  Attitude  toward  work. 

21.  Use  of  supplies. 

22.  Use  of  time. 

23.  School  reports  to  date. 

in.  THE  PUPILS. 

24.  Properly  seated. 

25.  Right  positions  required. 

26.  Orderly  movements  required. 

27.  Use  time  profitably. 

28.  Are  responsive. 

29.  Are  earnest  in  work. 

80.  Show  respect. 

81.  Well-mannered. 

82.  Prompt. 
88.  Punctual. 

84.  Regular  in  attendance. 


IV.  THE  INSTRUCTION 

35.  Requires  comparisons. 

36.  Connects  lesson  with  pupils'  expe- 

rience. 

37.  Requires  independent  thought. 

38.  Develops  intelligence. 

39.  Adapted  to  pupils. 

40.  Leads  pupils  to  ask  questions. 
11.  Trains  for  independent  study. 

42.  Suggests  wisely. 

43.  Discovers  weaknesses. 

44.  Develops  pupils'  interest. 

V.  THE  DISCIPLINE 

45.  Develops  self-control. 

46.  Develops  self-direction.  , 

47.  Corrects     by     commendation     and 

suggestion. 

48.  Uses  fear  judiciously. 

49.  Secures  right  conduct  from  ethical 

consideration. 

VI.   THE   RECITATION 

50.  Arouses  and  sustains  lesson-inter- 

est. 

51.  Makes  all  pupils  take  part. 

52.  Tests  preparation. 

53.  Questions  in  correct  form. 

54.  Answers  in  correct  form. 

55.  Elicits  discussion. 

56.  Employs  drill  advantageously. 

57.  Uses  reference  material. 

58.  Combines  and  socializes  effort. 

59.  Commends  success  and  effort. 

60.  Lesson  plan  evident. 

61.  Lesson  plan  executed. 

62.  Pupils  criticise  and  evaluate  their 

own  effort. 

63.  Lesson    assignment    starts    effqrt- 

evoking  interest. 

64.  Corrects     faults     by     commending 

virtues. 


52  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

under  ''Suggestions"  all  empty  will  tell  a  most  reveal- 
ing story  to  that  teacher. 

The  "Reaction  to  Suggestions"  serves  a  useful  pur- 
pose in  tempering  the  tone  of  supervisor  and  super- 
vised in  the  after-visit  conference  about  the  visit  and 
the  report.  "Follow-up"  efforts  need  to  be  carefully 
noted.  A  second  suggestion  that  a  correction  be  made, 
with  the  remark  that  this  is  the  second  suggestion  of 
the  kind  that  has  been  made,  never  fails  to  force  home 
its  gentle  rebuke.  Since  the  earlier  report  recorded 
the  fact,  so  that  certainty  is  possible,  all  temptation 
and  disposition  to  denial  or  disagreement  is  removed. 
Here  another  advantage  of  the  form  comes  to  light. 
It  is  possible  for  the  supervisor  to  quickly  consult  the 
notes  of  previous  visits,  so  as  to  give  the  new  visit  the 
full  force  of  consecutiveness. 

The  other  parts  of  the  blank  easily  explain  them- 
selves. A  few  have  value  for  the  gathering  of  statis- 
tics. If  these  statistics  have  a  bearing  on  the  instruc- 
tion they  should  be  gathered.  For  example,  the  pres- 
ence of  several  classes  seated  in  a  room  while  another 
is  reciting  affects  the  recitation  and  the  instruction. 
Should  the  class  contain  twenty  or  more  pupils  the 
record  of  that  fact  is  quite  important  in  explaining 
such  an  observation  as  "Some  pupils  not  called  on  to 
recite." 

On  the  reverse  side  of  both  the  white  and  the  yel- 
low sheet  there  are  listed  under  six  appropriate  head- 
ings, 64  Excellences  of  Teaching.  This  list  can  be 
made  longer  or  shorter  as  any  supervisor  may  desire. 
With  beginning  teachers  a  shorter  list  will  be  better. 

With  primary  teachers  different  items  should  be 
chosen.  With  teachers  of  longer  experience  or  in  a 
high  school  more  pointed  criticism  could  be  given  by 


NUMBERING   EXCELLENCES  53 

a  longer  and  more  detailed  list.  The  word  criticism 
here  means  commendation  and  correction.  Several 
ends  can  be  reached  with  a  single  form  if  desired  by 
using  large  print  for  the  simpler  teaching  and  smaller 
print  for  the  points  that  are  to  apply  to  the  higher 
and  more  complicated  teaching  work  of  the  larger  and 
older  pupils. 

Numbering  the  excellences  consecutively  makes 
possible  the  entry  by  number  of  any  excellence  under 
the  commendation,  or  the  suggestion  "27  needs  atten- 
tion." With  little  labor  much  recording  and  suggest- 
ing can  be  quickly  accomplished.  The  presence  of  the 
list  confers  these  advantages: 

1.  It  reminds  the  supervisor  and  the  teacher  of 
the  excellences  to  be  striven  for  in  the  instruction. 
The  forgetting  or  the  overlooking  of  a  teaching  excel- 
lence is  almost  impossible  if  the  supervisor  as  he  ob- 
serves and  writes  his  "original"  sheet  has  the  reyerse 
side  of  another  sheet  before  him. 

2.  The  list  becomes  the  "standard"  for  the  super- 
visor and  for  all  the  teachers  of  the  system. 

3.  At  every  visit  by  the  supervisor  it  serves  as  a 
special  suggestion  to  the  teacher  of  the  excellences 
listed.    The  supervisor  can  note  others. 

4.  Procedures  and  practices  not  listed  seem  of 
doubtful  or  of  inferior  value  by  necessary  inference 
and  are  thus  discountenanced  and  discouraged,  with- 
out a  word  of  comment  or  discussion. 

A  further  use  of  the  list  of  Excellences  will  be 
found  if  they  are  made  the  topic  of  explanation  and 
discussion  in  teachers'  meetings.  To  show  the  possi- 
bilities a  brief  statement  or  description  or  judgment 
of  several  of  the  excellences  is  here  made: 


54  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

7.  Uses  of  maps  and  charts:  Wall  maps  ready 
in  position  when  needed ;  not  a  hasty  scurry  for  them 
after  class  has  been  called,  usually  to  make  the  discov- 
ery that  they  are  not  in  place  or  not  in  working  con- 
dition. Uses  maps  and  diagrams  of  the  textbook.  Has 
children  prepare  sketch  maps.  Use  of  maps  in  history 
as  well  as  in  geography. 

21.  Use  of  supplies:  Practices  economy  and 
teaches  economy,  reproving  waste  of  materials,  injury 
to  books,  etc. 

24.  Properly  seated :  Seat  and  desk  right  height, 
overlap  of  desk  over  seat  right  for  "plus"  and  "minus" 
distance.  Pupils  who  are  "disturbers"  seated  where 
they  can  do  little  or  no  disturbing,  deaf  where  they  can 
hear. 

39.  Adapted  to  pupils:  Instruction  makes  sure 
that  children  get  an  understanding  of  lesson,  of  text, 
of  words.  Requires  recitation  in  terms  and  language 
at  the  highest  level  of  pupils'  capability,  so  as  to  in- 
sure growth  and  the  absorption  of  ideas  and  of  words 
into  the  mental  equipment  of  the  pupils. 

48.  Uses  fear  judiciously:  Fear  to  do  wrong,  fear 
to  injure  another  pupil,  fear  to  destroy  property.  Very 
rarely,  fear  of  the  teacher's  ability  to  use  force. 

53.  Questions  in  correct  form :  Questions  are  def- 
inite, clear,  comprehensible  to  the  pupils.  Avoids 
"yes"  and  "no"  questions.  Avoids  suggestive  ques- 
tions. Asks  "why"  frequently.  Uses  the  constructive 
question,  the  sequential  question.  Does  not  forget  that 
the  memory  question  is  the  mere  start  of  real  recita- 
tion, but  brings  it  to  pass  that  what  is  remembered  is 
then  put  into  its  proper  connection  and  relation  to  pre- 
ceding and  subsequent  ideas. 


RECORD  OF  JUDGMENTS  55 

From  these  hints  every  supervisor  will  see  just 
what  one  supervisor  has  found  valuable  to  himself  and 
to  teachers. 

The  results  following  from  the  use  of  such  a  form 
in  the  ways  suggested  are  not  hard  to  see.  The  white 
sheet  goes  to  the  teacher  and  becomes  her  property. 
The  yellow  sheet  or  copy  goes  into  the  supervisor's 
file.  If  needed,  this  copy  can  be  used  at  any  time  to 
settle  any  dispute  between  supervisor  and  teacher. 

These  "copies"  are  available  to  the  proper  commit- 
tee of  the  board,  and  they  constitute  the  record  on 
which  judgments  of  equality  and  value  of  the  instruc- 
tion work  of  the  teacher  are  to  be  based.  This  con- 
dition has  a  most  sobering  effect  upon  teachers  and 
upon  supervisors  in  cases  of  disagreement  of  judg- 
ment, especially  in  cases  where  a  teacher  treats  the 
supervision  as  of  slight  value. 

A  teacher  whose  invariable  attitude  had  been  that 
of  indifference  to  the  supervisor  so  she  would  say, 
"Well,  when  it  comes  to  opinions,  my  word  and  opin- 
ion are  just  as  good  as  his,"  changed  her  attitude  en- 
tirely as  the  reports  recording  suggestions  for  needed 
improvements  piled  up  against  her.  To  the  first  few 
reports  she  merely  remarked,  "I  think  just  as  well  of 
him  as  he  thinks  of  me,"  and  attempted  no  explanation 
or  justification  of  the  faults  mentioned.  Also  she  made 
no  effort  to  correct  the  faults. 

As  the  second  and  third  reports  came  into  her 
hands  and  she  realized  that  there  were  copies  on  file 
in  the  office,  she  realized  that  she  was  defenseless 
against  those  reports  which  now  had  become  accusa- 
tions. Whatever  defense  or  exculpation  she  might 
have  made  when  the  reports  were  handed  to  her  she 


56  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

had  not  "cared"  to  bother  about.  Obviously  non-pro- 
test when  the  first  and  second  reports  were  handed  to 
her  had  now  become  an  admission  of  culpability. 

Conversely,  if  the  reports  are  good  and  abound  in 
commendations,  those  little  slips  are  the  best  recom- 
mendation any  teacher  can  take  when  applying  for  a 
position  in  another  district.  Every  superintendent  and 
every  board  member  will  be  ready  to  accept  the  state- 
ments thereon  at  face  value  and  will  ask  for  no  further 
testimonial  from  that  source. 

The  direct  results  may  be  thus  summarized: 

1.  The  teacher  knows  her  standing  with  the  su- 
pervisor. 

2.  The  teacher  learns  definitely  and  gradually 
what  are  the  good  and  the  bad  points  in  her  work  as 
her  supervisor  values  it. 

3.  The  teacher  can  make  direct  efforts  to  correct 
defects,  and  can  make  specific  request  upon  the  super- 
intendent for  help  to  make  such  correction. 

4.  The  teacher  feels  that  she  has  fair  treatment 
or  that  she  can  get  it  by  entering  a  defense  or  by  filing 
statements  to  justify  her  procedure,  as  by  citing  her 
authority  for  the  facts  or  for  the  method  used. 

5.  The  teacher  has  trust  and  confidence  in  the 
supervisor  if  he  uses  such  a  plan  as  is  here  outlined. 
Entire  candor  and  straightforwardness  on  both  sides 
are  possible  and  necessary.  Mutual  respect,  trust,  and 
confidence  will  result,  and  the  relation  will  then  be 
mutually  helpful  and  satisfactory.  An  increasingly 
intimate  co-operation  will  make  the  system  evenly  and 
uniformly  strong  and  steady. 


REPORTS  AS  RECOMMENDATIONS  57 

6.  The  supervisor's  opinion  is  given  as  sound  a 
basis  of  scientifically  observed  fact  as  an  individual 
judgment  ever  can  have. 

7.  Shortcomings  of  any  teacher  can  at  any  time 
be  given  special  attention  if  intensive  supervision  is 
deemed  preferable.  The  study  and  tabulation  of  the 
observations  will  reveal  the  right  questions  and  topics 
for  the  teachers'  meetings. 

8.  At  any  one  visit  only  a  few  of  the  items  or 
qualities  are  observed  and  criticised,  yet  the  entire  list 
of  desirable  qualities  is  before  all  the  teachers  of  the 
system  all  the  time,  acting  continuously  as  a  standard- 
izing force.  If  all  the  qualities  of  items  were  rated  and 
criticised,  the  sense  of  discriminating  criticism  would 
be  swallowed  up  by  the  impression  of  triviality;  the 
proceeding  would  have  a  strong  resemblance  to  mere 
fault-finding. 

9.  The  discussion  of  the  list  of  excellences  in 
teachers'  meetings  helps  a  body  of  teachers  to  a  unity 
of  aim  and  effort  because  there  is  concurrence  of  opin- 
ion. 

10.  The  entire  teaching  effort  of  supervisor  and 
teachers  is  held  steadfastly  to  a  true  aim. 

11.  The  chances  and  temptations  to  pettiness  of 
action,  to  whimsicality,  caprice  and  variableness  of 
disposition,  arc  reduced  to  a  minimum.  Supervision 
stays  on  the  professional  level  most  easily.  The  per- 
sonal equation  is  almost  eliminated.  Hence  the  super- 
visory work  wins  and  holds  the  esteem  and  confidence 
of  the  school  board  quite  as  certainly  as  of  the  teach- 
ers. "The  system  has  reduced  the  complaints  from 
teachers  more  than  half"  was  the  gladly  spontaneous 
testimony  of  one  school  board. 


58  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

12.  Inspiration  and  successful  invigoration  of  ef- 
fort follow  directly  from  definite  suggestion.  Inspira- 
tion is  a  spiritual  process  and  this  plan  shows  the  def- 
inite phases  or  aspects  of  which  it  consists  just  as  the 
chemist  finds  the  savor  of  salt  to  be  composed  of  chlo- 
rine and  sodium.  The  "inspiration"  consists  of  show- 
ing what  to  do  and  of  starting  the  belief  that  the  par- 
ticular teacher  being  supervised  can  do  it. 

13.  The  plan  readily  wins  the  willing  support  of 
the  teachers  working  under  it.  Thence  will  follow 
unity  of  effort,  concert  of  aim  and  purpose,  agreement 
as  to  the  worth  of  results,  and  this  will  be  the  realiza- 
tion of  the  hope  and  desire  of  every  supervisor,  name- 
ly, a  harmonious  and  accordant  group  of  working 
agents  and  agencies. 

14.  The  development  of  a  sense  of  dignity  and  of 
responsibility  on  a  professional  basis,  to  think  of 
supervision  of  instruction  on  the  purely  personal  level 
and  to  regard  its  deliverances  of  judgments  and  opin- 
ions on  personal  grounds  makes  teaching  a  worry  and 
an  irritation.  To  think  of  it  as  a  professional  activity 
opens  the  way  for  satisfaction,  for  invigoration  and 
inspiration  as  the  passion  for  a  fine  art. 

The  success  of  such  a  plan  may  hinge  on  the  "per- 
sonal equation"  of  the  supervisor.  If  he  tries  to  con- 
duct it  on  personal  grounds,  it  will  fail.  If  he  can  lift 
it  into  the  professional  altitude  and  maintain  it  there, 
the  question  of  success  or  failure  can  not  arise.  In- 
stead the  question  will  be  that  of  degree  of  success. 
Requirements  are  definite,  and  "delivery  of  the  goods" 
can  be  equally  definite;  that  is  what  makes  the  plan 
work.  Rural  school  standardization  which  is  spread- 
ing so  rapidly,  has  this  advantage  over  all  the  decades 


GOOD  TEACHING  59 

of  agitation  for  school  improvement.  Standardiza- 
tion tells  definitely  what  to  improve.  So  with  super- 
vision for  definite  purposes.  The  combined  and  con- 
centrated effort  to  secure  particular  excellences  is  still 
an  effort  to  get  good  teaching,  but  it  is  an  effort  to 
make  the  teaching  not  merely  "good,"  but  good  for 
something,  and  the  something  is  clearly  stated. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Self-supervision  by  Teachers:   What  Supervision 

Is  Not. 

Self-supervision  was  the  earliest  form  of  super- 
vision of  teachers,  and  it  is  still  the  most  prevalent 
form.  The  supervisor  who  is  most  effective  now  is  the 
one  whose  visits,  suggestions,  conferences,  lead  the 
teacher  to  be  consciously  critical  of  her  own  efforts. 

This  state  of  mind  produced  by  supervision  should 
make  the  supervision  a  success ;  this  state  of  mind  not 
aroused  and  developed  in  teachers  under  supervision 
signifies  that  the  supervision  is  of  the  detective  varie- 
ty ;  they  are  hoping  to  avert  being  caught  in  poor  work 
and  the  supervisor  is  trying  and  hoping  to  catch  them 
in  the  act.  It  is  due  the  fine  art  of  supervision  and  the 
finer  art  of  real  teaching  to  disown  such  detective  pro- 
cedure as  supervision  and  to  deny  it  the  use  of  a 
worthy  and  noble  name.  It  never  was  and  never  can 
be  supervision  of  instruction. 

Realization  of  the  ends  of  supervision  of  instruc- 
tion must  awaken  hope  and  aspiration  in  the  teacher 
and  not  develop  a  low  species  of  cunning  and  calcula- 
tion, namely,  the  cunning  and  calculation  to  outguess 
the  supervisor,  or  the  cheap  and  tawdry  courage  and 
daring  which  takes  a  chance  on  bluffing,  that  is,  on 
deceiving  the  supervisor. 

Categorical  definition  of  such  work  is  not  here  de- 
manded, but  it  is  not  supervision  of  instruction.  The 
alleged  act  may  be  called  by  that  name,  the  official  may 
have  that  title  and  may  hold  that  office,  and  the  teacher 
being  watched  may  be  officially  under  surveillance. 
Form  only  is  supervision  of  instruction. 

60 


SURVEILLANCE  VS.  SUPERVISION  61 

Every  other  part  of  the  performance  is  mere  "cat 
and  mouse"  procedure,  the  mouse  trying  to  escape  and 
believing  that  it  can  escape  and  the  cat  trying  to  catch 
the  mouse  and  beheving  that  it  will  catch  the  victim 
finally.  Supervisors  who  climb  to  lofts  to  observe 
teachers  through  ceiling  ventilating  apertures,  who 
stand  on  step  ladders  to  peer  in  through  transoms  or 
cloak  rooms,  who  insist  on  windows  in  classroom 
doors  so  that  teachers  may  be  spied  as  the  supervisor 
passes  through  corridors,  who  invite  visitors  to  report 
on  the  conduct  of  teachers,  who  question  pupils,  etc., 
these  practice  mean,  contemptible  and  despicable  "sur- 
veillance," which  has  been  and  still  is  delivered  to  some 
communities  as  supervision  of  instruction. 

They  are  degrading  and  insulting  to  teachers ;  they 
are  quackery  and  deceit  palmed  off  on  a  community 
and  a  board  of  directors,  and  they  debase  and  degrade 
the  quack  and  mountebank  who  hopes  to  deceive  his 
employers  by  the  game  of  bluff  which  for  that  school 
and  for  that  system  is  called  supervision.  Probably 
the  generous  construction  to  put  upon  such  work  is 
that  the  person  is  doing  the  best  he  knows  or  is  ca- 
pable of  doing.  Intention  may  be  good,  but  good  in- 
tentions can  not  become  a  substitute  for  an  under- 
standing mind  and  a  quickened  sympathy. 

The  person  whose  supervision  is  of  this  kind  in 
spirit  and  practice  is  doing  much  evil  in  the  world  and 
is  making  not  only  teachers  and  pupils  unhappy,  but 
is  also  rendering  himself  uncomfortable  and  most  thor- 
oughly disliked  and  detested,  as  meanness  always  does 
and  as  it  should  do.  Perhaps  the  state  of  mind  which 
suspects  teachers  of  "not  delivering  the  goods"  is  the 
direct  concomitant  of  an  unacknowledged  awareness 
that  the  supervisor  too  is  not  "delivering  the  goods," 


62  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

that  because  the  "supervision"  is  a  bluff  and  the  "su- 
pervisor" a  bluffer,  therefore  the  teacher  too  must  be 
judged  from  that  point  of  view. 

Supervision  operated  on  this  plane  with  such  ideals 
brings  nothing  but  bitterness  and  disappointment.  In- 
spiring supervision  must  help  the  teacher;  it  must 
commend  what  is  commendable  in  her  work ;  it  must 
arouse  and  keep  alive  the  belief  that  for  that  teacher 
effort  to  do  better  and  still  better  work  is  worth  while ; 
also  to  the  belief  that  the  effort  is  worth  while  must  be 
joined  the  resolution  to  make  the  effort.  With  a  con- 
sciousness rearoused  and  recharged  after  each  visit  of 
the  supervisor,  supervision  has  started  on  its  way  of 
success  and  contentment,  and  many  times  on  its  way  of 
triumph  and  supreme  happiness  for  the  teacher  and 
for  the  supervisor. 

As  teaching  preceded  supervision,  so  self-supervi- 
sion must  still  be  a  part  of  the  reaction  of  the  teacher 
to  her  own  work.  Ceaseless  judgment  of  her  own 
work,  continuous  asking,  "How  may  I  do  this  lesson 
better  next  time?"  "What  a  fine  thought  for  use  when 
I  teach  my  next  lesson !"  such  expressions  and  medita- 
tions were  part  of  the  consciousness  of  the  excellent 
teacher  before  the  days  of  official  supervision,  when 
the  real  teacher  was  endeavoring  from  a  sense  of  the 
sacredness  and  worth  of  her  office  to  make  her  work 
of  each  day  better  than  that  of  the  preceding  day,  was 
seeking,  studying,  working  to  make  her  instruction 
"ever  better." 

Teachers  had  such  a  spirit  before  supervisors  were 
deputed  to  visit  the  schoolrooms,  nor  was  it  the  ab- 
sence of  such  spirit  which  would  have  instituted  super- 
vision, which  can  institute  it  or  which  could  either 
maintain  or  institute  supervision  of  instruction  in  the 


SELF-SUPERVISION  63 

future.  If  figures  could  be  secured,  it  would  be  inter- 
esting to  learn  whether  a  larger  proportion  of  teach- 
ers or  of  official  supervisors  are  lacking  in  this  spirit 
of  improvement  and  determination  to  grow.  How- 
ever, that  is  not  the  problem  here  opened. 

To  self-supervision  we  must  provide  first,  the  re- 
quirements and  expectations  of  the  persons  in  author- 
ity, and  a  gauge  by  which  to  determine  progress  and 
to  measure  degree  of  success  of  effort.  Merely  to  say 
to  teachers,  "Do  your  best,"  will  not  induce  self-super- 
vision. The  teacher  must  know  what  is  best,  so  as  to 
be  able  to  decide  in  what  respects  her  plans  and  meth- 
ods are  not  best,  as  well  also  as  to  see  in  what  respects 
she  has  already  found  the  best  way  or  how  near  she  is 
to  it.  Standard  procedure  must  be  indicated  to  the 
teacher  or  no  self-measurement  is  possible. 

The  teacher  under  supervision  learns  these  stand- 
ard requirements  gradually  as  the  result  of  super- 
visors' visits  and  criticisms.  For  both  classes  of  teach- 
ers a  copy  of  expectations  and  requirements  will  be 
helpful  and  will  totally  remove  that  later  plea  in  justi- 
fication of  continuance  of  faulty  procedure,  "I  did  not 
know  what  was  expected  of  me."  Steady  growth  of 
the  teacher  must  be  the  result  of  conscious  effort  due 
to  inner  striving  rather  than  as  the  result  of  effort  to 
attain  outward  conformity.  That  is,  desire  for  im- 
provement is  of  the  spirit,  and  must  be  a  spiritual 
longing,  a  fervent  desire. 

Constant,  steady  effort  can  not  be  aroused  except 
as  a  spiritual  appeal.  Whether  or  not  the  teacher  is 
under  official  supervision  or  under  self-imposed  super- 
vision can  not  be  accepted  as  changing  the  require- 
ments for  growth.  Both  teachers  must  care  for  and 
must  subject  their  work  to  their  own  criticism,  and 


64  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

usually  it  is  more  merciless  than  the  criticism  of  the 
"official"  supervisor.  Hence  a  statement  of  expecta- 
tions, objectives,  procedures,  is  the  first  requirement 
for  the  teacher  who  would  like  to  pass  judgment  on 
her  own  work. 

The  teacher  who  has  no  supervisor  to  provide  such 
a  scale  can  arrange  her  own,  or  can  use  a  scale  pre- 
pared by  some  authority,  or  may  use  the  suggested 
scales  shown  in  this  discussion.  Self-supervision  must 
have  a  definite  standard  of  excellence  toward  which  to 
strive  for  comparison  and  evolution  of  daily  effort. 

With  objectives  named,  with  procedures  described, 
how  may  the  teacher  measure  the  success  of  her  effort  ? 
Very  briefly  it  might  be  replied  that  when  attaining 
the  goals  set  in  the  standard  statement,  she  may  prop- 
erly assume  that  her  work  would  pass  for  excellent 
work. 

For  the  teacher  who  is  sincere  and  earnest  enough 
to  want  to  reach  the  highest  possible  point  of  excel- 
lence it  will  not  be  necessary  to  state  that  care  is  need- 
ed to  know  reality  from  appearance  here  as  elsewhere. 
Honesty  of  judgment  is  sure  to  be  present  where  there 
is  honesty  of  endeavor;  conversely,  insincerity  of  en- 
deavor is  most  likely  to  beget  easy  acceptance  of  sham 
for  reality.  Some  one  on  the  outside  may  be  able  to 
detect  the  difference,  but  not  so  quickly  nor  so  unfail- 
ingly as  the  teacher  herself. 

Measurement  to  be  valuable  must  have  sincerity  of 
desire  and  purpose  on  which  to  base  itself.  This  hon- 
esty of  purpose  is  again  a  spiritual  attribute.  Having 
the  attributes  of  soul  already  mentioned,  namely,  de- 
sire to  know  the  best,  wilhngness  to  strive  for  it,  and 
belief  that  it  is  attainable,  is  a  quite  dependable  pre- 


RECORD  OF  HAPPENINGS  65 

requisite  for  the  sincerity  of  effort  which  can  be  trust- 
ed to  deliver  an  honest  judgment  as  to  whether  or  not 
the  effort  has  succeeded. 

Still  better  is  it  if  the  supervisor  can  discuss  and 
elaborate  the  standard  of  requirements  with  his  teach- 
ers. In  such  discussion  it  will  be  possible  to  describe 
specific  cases  of  attainment  or  of  failure,  which  ought 
to  be  accepted  as  typical  and  concrete  description. 

This  detailed  presentation  is  not  usually  feasible 
in  written  or  printed  tables  since  it  unduly  lengthens 
the  forms.  Such  forms  should  be  brief,  clear,  and  easy 
of  quick  consultation.  Long,  exhaustive  meticulous 
directions,  outlines,  syllabi,  and  so  on,  are  a  distinct 
imposition  on  teachers.  The  teachers'  meeting  should 
supply  the  details,  the  printed  or  written  form  should 
contain  the  mere  outline.  The  standard  of  excellences 
of  instruction  (enumerated  in  Chapter  VI)  has  been 
used  with  a  body  of  teachers.  The  table  can  be  printed 
on  a  card  or  mimeographed  on  the  backs  of  supervisory 
blanks  whose  face  is  used  to  note  happenings  when 
the  supervisor  visits  the  room  of  a  teacher. 

If  such  a  table  be  put  into  the  hands  of  teachers, 
whether  of  a  city  or  a  county  or  a  state  even,  the  super- 
visory authority  multiplies  its  visits  and  its  influence 
many  times  with  the  teachers  who  desire  to  become 
better  from  day  to  day.  This  list  can  be  consulted,  it 
is  at  hand  and  is  consulted,  it  is  encouraging  and  stim- 
ulating as  well  as  thought-provoking,  and  hence  wins 
willingness  to  refer  to  it.  Lying  on  a  teacher's  desk, 
pasted  into  her  plan  book,  or  used  as  a  place  marker 
in  the  plan  book,  are  several  of  the  best  uses  to  which 
such  tables  have  been  put  by  teachers. 

Here  the  spirit  of  the  supervisor  is  always  present 
when  work  is  being  planned,  he  visits  the  teacher's 


66  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

room  not  merely  every  day  but  many  times  a  day. 
Again,  by  use  of  the  numbers,  any  point  needing  spe- 
cial attention  can  be  easily  noted  and  steadily  stressed 
and  regularly  followed  up  by  teacher  and  supervisor. 
Success  and  its  excellent  tonic  effects  will  be  indicated 
for  the  teacher  as  for  the  supervisor,  and  for  the  teach- 
er without  the  supervisor,  as  more  and  more  of  the 
excellences  noted  become  characteristic  of  each  day's 
work,  characteristically  present  in  spirit  as  well  as  in 
letter. 

By  stressing  one  or  more  of  the  glaring  shortcom- 
ings of  a  school  or  of  a  teacher,  success  is  sure  of  at- 
tainment, encouragement  will  follow  the  smaller  suc- 
cesses, and  school,  teacher  and  supervisor  will  be  per- 
meated and  possessed  of  that  finest  spiritual  attribute, 
awareness  of  honesty  and  sincerity  of  effort  and  con- 
sciousness of  realization  of  the  goal  sought.  Money 
can  not  buy  such  satisfaction,  only  the  sincere  desire 
in  process  of  realization  can  confer  it. 

The  experienced  teacher  has  such  a  standard  for 
herself  wrought  out  of  her  experience.  The  beginning 
teacher  will  be  mightily  helped  by  such  a  standard 
statement.  The  inchoate  acquirements  and  attain- 
ments of  the  period  of  tutelage  will  be  speedily  clarified 
and  defined  in  the  process  of  experience  if  the  standard 
table  guides  the  experience  and  secures  its  gradual  in- 
tegration into  practice. 

The  belief  that,  being  a  trained  teacher,  you  need 
no  supervision  has  received  many  hard  knocks  at  this 
point,  but  they  have  not  been  frequent  enough  and 
have  not  been  hard  enough  to  make  us  realize  that  the 
theory  learned  in  the  normal  school  needs  to  be  spe- 
cifically shown  what  is  expected  to  be  the  form  of  the 
practice  of  the  schoolroom. 


CADET  TEACHING  67 

Was  it  not  the  recognition  of  this  fact  which  has 
justified  the  process  known  in  normal  school  as  "critic 
teaching?"  Cadet  teaching  has  an  unmistakable  ad- 
vantage over  every  other  form  of  teacher  training  just 
because  it  realizes  the  importance  of  applying  criticism 
so  as  to  make  the  practicing  cadet  self-critical  rather 
than  dependent  on  the  crutch  of  supervisor's  criticism. 
Growth  in  ability  to  be  critical  of  self  is  the  finest  test 
of  the  growth  of  the  teacher ;  reading  and  passing  ex- 
aminations on  books  of  pedagogy  may  have  this  truth 
wrapped  up  in  it  as  an  assumption,  but  the  truth  very 
often  fails  to  disclose  itself. 

An  unmistakable  test  of  the  success  of  supervision, 
therefore,  is  the  making  of  the  teacher  desirous,  will- 
ing and  capable  to  criticise  herself;  that  is,  to  apply 
the  supervisor's  criticisms. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Supervision  of  Instruction  by  a  Teaching 
Principal. 

Usually  the  principal  who  has  but  few  teachers 
and  who  must  therefore  teach  all  day  himself  feels  that 
supervision  is  for  him  impossible.  There  is  a  form  of 
supervision  possible  to  such  a  principal  which  is  far 
better  than  no  supervision. 

Technically  it  might  be  called  directed  self -super- 
vision. That  is,  if  the  principal  will  talk  the  matter 
over  with  his  teachers  and  if  they  will  agree  as  to  cer- 
tain improvements  or  changes  in  methods  and  pro- 
cedures which  are  to  be  inaugurated,  the  changes  or 
innovations  can  be  listed,  each  teacher  provided  with 
a  copy  of  the  list,  and  then  each  teacher  keep  a  check 
on  her  own  work  as  to  the  degree  and  extent  of  her 
own  conformity  with  the  changes  agreed  upon. 

The  adoption  of  a  regular  supervisory  scale  of  mer- 
its will  usually  follow  directly  from  such  a  start  to  in- 
corporate definite  improvements.  Most  teachers  will 
be  quite  willing  to  check  up  on  their  own  work  accord- 
ing to  the  list  and  to  report  to  the  principal  what  suc- 
cess has  attended  their  efforts,  and  especially  to  ask 
questions  concerning  difficulties  encountered. 

This  questioning  and  discussion  between  teacher 
and  principal  is  supervision  of  the  best  kind.  Before 
school  on  some  days,  after  school  on  other  days  and 
at  still  other  times  the  teaching  principal  can  arrange 
his  teachers'  conferences  for  supervision,  can  present 
his  table  of  merits,  can  explain  and  define  them,  can 
inspire  his  teachers  with  a  desire  to  embody  in  their 

68 


PRINCIPAL  AS  SUPERVISOR  69 

work  the  excellences  which  he  enumerates  and  defines, 
and  can  even  help  them  to  become  self -critical  so  as  to 
pass  judgment  on  themselves  and  to  report  to  the  prin- 
cipal what  is  their  own  judgment  of  their  success. 

Many  principals  who  teach  all  the  time  have  such 
a  spirit  among  their  teachers  now.  Many  supervising 
principals  have  no  spirit  of  gratitude  for  supervision 
among  their  teachers,  much  less  a  spirit  of  joyous  self- 
criticism.  The  difficulty  is  not  one  of  time  alone.  It 
is  far  more  a  difference  of  attitude  of  the  principal. 

If  the  principal's  supervisory  meetings  and  con- 
ferences are  helpful,  the  whole  procedure  will  be  wel- 
come ;  if  his  conferences  are  disheartening,  the  whole 
procedure  will  produce  misery  all  around.  Given  the 
right  spirit,  and  the  teaching  principal  can  institute 
and  maintain  very  wholesome  and  effective  supervi- 
sion begotten  in  the  ideal  spirit. 

The  following  form  of  card  has  been  used  with  good 
results  in  all  cases  where  teachers  passed  judgment  on 
themselves : 

Teachers'  Self-judgment  Questions  : 

To  the  Teacher:  Your  superintendent  must  form 
judgments  concerning  your  work  on  the  questions 
asked  on  this  card,  to  make  a  report  to  the  board  of 
directors.  Can  you  give  a  favorable  report  on  your- 
self? If  so,  his  work  and  your  own  will  be  very  pleas- 
ant and  satisfactory. 

I.  Care  of  Property:  Is  there  evidence  of  care 
for  school  grounds? Out-buildings? Fur- 
niture ? Textbooks  ? Maps  and  ref- 
erence books? Flag  and  flag  equipment? 

II.  Health  and  Comfort  of  the  Pupils:  Is 
light  managed  and  controlled  for  best  sanitary  results? 
Is  temperature  of  the  room  watched  and 


70  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

regulated  ? Is  the  ventilation  cared  for  ? 

Are  the  pupils  seated  in  seats  and  at  desks  suited  to 
their  size? Are  sanitary  precautions  appar- 
ent about  toilets,  drinking  water,  cloak-rooms,  etc? 


III.  Use  of  Time:    Is  the  time  of  the  teacher 

used  to  best  advantage  ? Is  the  class  time  of 

pupils  used  to  the  best  advantage?   Is  the 

seat  time  of  pupils  used  to  the  best  advantage? 

Is  the  seat  work  and  the  home  work  of  the  pupils  used 
in  the  recitation  ? 

IV.  Records:    Is  the  school  register  completely 

up-to-date  in  its  entries  ? Are  the  averages  and 

percentages  computed  to  date? Is  there  a  note 

of  record  of  visits  to  the  school? 

V.  Discipline:  Does  it  secure  obedience? 

Does  it  lead  to  self-control  and  self-direction? 

Is  it  an  appeal  to  love  of  right  or  to  fear  of  punish- 
ment?   

VI.  Instruction  :  Is  it  suited  to  the  development 

of  the  pupils  ?   Does  it  make  pupils  think 

or  merely  recall?   Is  the  teacher  following 

the  course  of  study  ? Is  the  teacher  instruct- 
ing children  or  is  she  teaching  subjects? 

VII.  Teacher's  Attitude  Toward  Suggestions: 
Does  the  teacher  try  to  understand  suggestions  or 
begin  to  offer  excuses? Is  the  use  and  appli- 
cation of  former  suggestions  evident?   Are 

there  signs  of  growth  and  improvement  in  the  work 
of  the  teacher? 

It  is  suggested  that  the  teacher  look  over  the  card 
frequently  and  record  her  answers  on  a  sheet  of  paper 
under  each  head.  Progress  will  be  shown  by  the  in- 
crease in  yes's.    If  desired,  a  percentage  standing  can 


TEACHER'S  SELF-JUDGMENT  71 

be  worked  out  so  that  the  teacher  is  rating  herself  just 
as  a  superintendent  rates  his  teachers.  A  percentage 
of  less  than  75  on  this  series  of  questions  should  make 
even  a  beginning  teacher  dissatisfied  with  herself.  An 
excellent  teacher  would  score  100  on  a  more  searching 
and  more  exacting  set  of  questions. 

Such  a  form  modified  to  suit  the  principal's  ideas 
is  a  good  start.  No  principal  need  wait  for  an  entire 
school  system  to  start  systematic  supervision.  Each 
principal,  with  the  cooperation  of  his  teachers,  can 
institute  supervision  for  his  building.  Nor  need  he 
wait  for  all  the  teachers  to  concur  in  the  plan.  A  few 
teachers  agreeing  to  the  plan  and  helping  to  prepare 
the  list  of  excellences  is  such  a  fine  application  of  de- 
mocracy in  supervision  that  all  will  become  interested. 
Soon  the  help  and  encouragement  received  by  the 
teachers  who  are  cooperating  will  be  reported  to  the 
non-cooperating,  and  the  desire  to  "get  into  the  game" 
will  bring  them  in  also.  This  is  not  mere  theory ;  prac- 
tice has  demonstrated  the  truth  of  this  statement. 

The  teaching  principal  who  thus  initiates  super- 
vision and  gives  it  a  good  name  in  his  school  has  proved 
his  fitness  for  larger  supervisory  responsibilities,  and 
may  feel  sure  that  his  work  is  certain  to  be  recognized. 
Supervision  is  destined  to  play  an  even  larger  part  in 
school  administration,  and  the  young  man  who  is  prov- 
ing himself  a  gifted  supervisor,  and  who  is  learning 
the  game  by  practice  and  by  finding  his  own  opportun- 
ity will  be  sought  out  for  the  larger  responsibilities  of 
supervision. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Supervision  of  Instruction  :  the  Special  Teacher- 
Supervisor. 
The  first  and  foremost  duty  of  supervision  of 
teaching  is  to  make  the  teaching  more  productive  of 
development  for  the  child;  the  child  must  be  able  to 
learn  more  in  a  given  time  with  supervision  than  he 
could  or  would  learn  without  supervision. 

How  shall  this  duty  be  most  easily  and  most  pro- 
lifically  performed?  This  problem  has  confronted 
every  school  superintendent,  or  is  confronting  many 
superintendents,  and  will  face  every  new  man  who 
comes  into  the  superintendency. 

How  shall  teaching  in  the  special  subjects  be  made 
and  kept  fresh  and  vigorous?  Many  answers  are  pos- 
sible, and  each  will  have  virtue.  No  one  answer  will 
contain  all  the  excellences.  One  successful  attempt 
can  be  described  in  the  expectation  that  it  may  help  in- 
quirers and  also  in  the  hope  that  other  students  of  the 
problem  will  feel  encouraged  to  recount  their  experi- 
ences in  this  field. 

For  the  sake  of  definiteness  and  brevity  the  expres- 
sion special  teacher-supervisor  should  be  used.  Brev- 
ity suggests  teacher-supervisor.  This  will  mean  a  spe- 
cial teacher  who  sometimes  teaches  a  class  to  show  how 
certain  lessons  should  be  taught,  and  who  sometimes 
observes  the  grade  teacher  doing  the  work  and  then 
suggests  modifications  to  improve  the  teacher's  work. 

The  very  large  school  system,  of  course,  has  the 
supervisor  who  never  teaches  a  class  but  who  depends 

72 


SPECIAL  TEACHER-SUPERVISOR  73 

upon  special  teachers  to  do  that  work.  The  small 
school  system  must  get  along  with  the  teacher-super- 
visor, hence  that  procedure  justifies  this  attempt  to 
tell  about  one  way  to  make  the  work  produce  results. 

How  much  time  for  teaching  and  how  much  for 
supervision?  How  shall  the  teacher  be  apprised  of 
the  results  of  the  supervision  ?  How  shall  the  superin- 
tendent be  informed  of  the  results?  When  and  how 
shall  needed  advice  and  guidance  be  given  the  teacher 
by  the  teacher-supervisor  ?  When  by  the  superintend- 
ent? These  questions  show  just  what  must  be  de- 
scribed to  make  plain  the  form  of  procedure. 

The  advantage  of  combining  the  special  teaching 
and  supervision  of  one  subject  or  branch  is  that  the 
quality  of  both  the  special  teaching  and  of  the  super- 
vision is  likely  to  be  much  better  that  way  than  to  have 
one  person  act  as  special  teacher  and  supervisor  of  sev- 
eral subjects  for  any  unit  smaller  than  the  whole  sys- 
tem. Both  practices  are  in  vogue,  but  there  is  no  doubt 
as  to  the  better  plan.  How  shall  the  time  of  the  teach- 
er-supervisor be  apportioned  between  teaching  and  su- 
pervision? 

No  purely  mechanical  answer  is  satisfactory.  It  is 
usual  to  say  one  supervisory  lesson  to  so  many  teach- 
ing lessons.  This  is  a  purely  arbitrary,  purely  mechan- 
ical arrangement,  an  arrangement  on  a  level  upon 
which  supervision  works  very  poorly  or  not  at  all. 
Supervision  is  an  art  of  the  spirit,  and  spirit  does  not 
readily  suit  itself  to  mechanical  restrictions.  "It  blow- 
eth  where  it  listeth,"  we  are  told. 

The  real  artistic  procedure  is  for  the  teacher-super- 
visor to  teach  the  beginnings  of  topics  or  the  critical 
aspects  of  topics,  or  the  entirely  new  aspects  of  topics. 
The  time  units  chosen  are  generally  determined  by 


74  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

the  arbitrary  division  of  school  work  into  weeks.  We 
have  not  thought  it  necessary  to  find  out  by  experi- 
mental determination  whether  once  a  week  is  too  often 
or  not  often  enough  or  is  just  right  for  special  subjects 
to  be  on  the  program,  nor  what  is  the  maximally  pro- 
ductive frequency  of  supervisory  visits.  Need  for 
small  outlays  of  school  funds  has  had  much  to  do  with 
the  matter  of  frequency  also.  If  the  visits  are  made 
infrequent,  one  supervisor  can  visit  many  teachers. 
The  best  way  to  make  clear  what  can  be  done  will  be 
to  tell  it  just  as  it  might  happen,  since  that  is  the  way- 
it  has  happened. 

Suppose  a  school  system  with  180  grade  teachers 
who  need  to  be  directed  in  each  of  three  special  sub- 
jects, writing,  music,  drawing.  On  a  purely  mathe- 
matical basis,  each  supervisor  can  visit  nine  teachers 
on  each  of  the  20  days  of  the  school  month,  and  will 
then  visit  each  teacher  once  a  month,  seeing  just  nine 
teachers  a  day.  Artistic  variation  is  possible,  so  that 
occasionally  ten  or  eleven  teachers  may  be  visited  in 
a  day. 

This  will  leave  some  other  days  with  free  time  for 
special  visits  to  rooms  where  there  are  substitutes  or 
new  teachers.  Some  such  schedule  is  usually  followed 
for  the  simple  reason  that  that  is  the  way  it  works  out. 
This  makes  clear  that  prevailing  practice  is  purely 
empirical,  and  will  inform  some  superintendents  that 
there  is  both  need  and  opportunity  to  substitute  trial 
and  experimentation  so  that  the  best  way  may  be 
found. 

It  is  perhaps  not  presumptuous  to  risk  the  state- 
ment that  eventually  we  will  find  that  supervision  has 
little  correlation  with  calendar  months  and  much  need 


BEGINNING  SPECIALIZATION  75 

to  regard  the  topic  and  subject  unity  of  the  special 
branches  of  study. 

One  consideration  that  will  need  to  be  borne  in 
mind  very  carefully  is  whether  or  not  the  school  sys- 
tem which  is  at  work  on  this  problem  is  just  starting 
special  teacher-supervision,  or  whether  the  plan  has 
been  in  operation  for  some  time.  Any  school  system 
which  is  just  beginning  the  specialization  in  this  way 
will  need  to  impose  relatively  much  special  teaching 
and  relatively  little  supervision. 

As  rapidly  as  the  teachers  in  the  system  acquire 
confidence  and  skill,  so  rapidly  the  special  teaching 
may  be  diminished  and  the  supervision  increased. 
After  several  years,  there  should  be  very  little  need 
for  much  special  teaching  except  with  the  new  teach- 
ers taken  into  the  system.  If  the  teacher-supervisor 
works  with  that  goal  in  view  most  of  her  special  teach- 
ing will  be  called  for  and  will  be  needed  by  new  teach- 
ers who  have  had  no  training  or  no  experience  in  teach- 
ing the  special  subjects.  With  these  exceptions,  it  will 
generally  be  safe  to  let  the  teacher-supervisor  decide 
for  which  teachers  she  should  teach  and  how  often  she 
should  teach. 

Some  very  successful  teacher-supervisors  teach  for 
part  of  a  period  and  let  the  room  teacher  take  the  class 
for  the  rest  of  the  period.  This  is  exceptionally  good 
for  the  beginning  teacher  under  a  teacher-supervisor. 
Of  course  every  school  system  that  is  careful  to  admit 
no  teachers  except  those  who  have  had  training  and 
experience  in  the  special  subjects,  will  reduce  the 
amount  of  special  teaching  needed,  but  will  have  just 
as  great  need  of  supervision. 


76  COMiMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

Wherever  found  in  a  school  system,  the  teacher- 
supervisor  should  find  less  and  less  need  for  teaching 
as  she  works  longer  in  the  system,  unless  each  year 
brings  a  large  percentage  of  new  and  untrained  teach- 
ers into  the  system. 

An  old-time  description  of  a  good  teacher  was, 
"The  best  teacher  is  he  who  most  rapidly  makes  him- 
self useless  (unnecessary)  to  the  pupil."  This  is  say- 
ing that  the  good  teacher  trains  the  child  to  help  him- 
self more  and  more  and  to  need  less  and  less  help  from 
the  teacher. 

This  is  exactly  what  the  teacher-supervisor  must 
try  to  do  for  the  room  teacher.  If  the  room  teacher  is 
becoming  stronger  and  more  and  more  able  to  teach 
her  own  classes  in  the  special  branches,  then  the  teach- 
er-supervisor is  doing  very  good  special  teaching  and 
supervision. 

If  at  the  end  of  any  school  year  the  room  teachers 
are  no  more  capable  in  the  special  branches,  and  if  the 
following  year  they  will  need  just  as  much  help  as  in 
the  preceding  year,  then  teacher-supervision  has  not 
helped  the  system  at  all,  though  the  children  have  prof- 
ited, of  course.  As  to  supervision,  the  test  of  its  suc- 
cess is  whether  or  not  it  makes  the  teachers  of  the  sys- 
tem better  able  to  do  work  of  a  high  degree  of  excel- 
lence. Shall  the  teacher-supervisor  be  a  permanent 
part  of  a  school  system? 

One  teacher  says,  "I  can  not  teach  drawing;"  an- 
other teacher  insists  that  she  can  not  teach  writing 
succesfully  although  she  knows  that  she  can  teach 
arithmetic  interestingly  and  successfully.  Do  such 
conditions  justify  the  employment  of  special  teachers 
to  make  up  the  incapacities  of  the  non-singing,  non- 
writing,  non-drawing  teachers? 


INCAPACITIES  OF  TEACHERS  77 

To  say  "yes"  will  saddle  a  rather  heavy  expense 
upon  the  school  system.  If  the  room  teacher  is  not 
learning  to  do  the  work  under  the  guidance  of  the 
teacher-supervisor,  it  seems  like  a  clear  waste  of  money 
to  hire  a  special  teacher  while  the  room  teacher  does 
nothing.  Therefore  good  housekeeping  forbids  such  an 
arrangement  on  the  basis  of  permanence. 

Again,  many  room  teachers  object  to  the  special 
teacher  because  there  is  damage  to  the  order  of  the 
school  due  to  the  change  of  teachers.  These  two  ob- 
jections should  be  enough  to  warn  any  one  who  has  not 
begun  the  plan.  Usually  the  new  teacher  can  be  better 
helped  by  a  few  special  lessons  in  self-help  from  the 
teacher-supervisor. 

This  problem  is  linked  up  with  the  problem  of 
whether  we  shall  in  the  future  keep  up  the  one-room 
one-teacher  plan  of  development  or  whether  we  shall 
replace  that  form  of  organization  with  more  and  more 
of  the  platoon  organization.  If  we  follow  the  one- 
teacher  one-room  plan,  then  it  will  be  increasingly  re- 
quired that  the  room  teacher  shall  do  all  the  teaching 
work  of  her  room  except  as  the  teacher-supervisor  of 
special  subjects  may  teach  an  occasional  new  lesson, 
let  us  say  of  some  new  and  diif erent  phase  of  a  special 
subject. 

The  one-room  one-teacher  plan  has  its  strength  in 
the  fact  that  it  satisfies  the  child's  feeling  of  unity  of 
his  consciousness  and  supplies  his  developmental  need 
to  see  the  relatedness  of  ideas,  both  within  the  specialty 
and  of  the  specialty  with  other  branches.  No  system 
which  runs  to  "specialized"  teaching  in  the  grades  can 
be  even  tolerably  satisfactory  in  this  respect.  The  fre- 
quent change  of  teachers  during  the  school  day,  now 


78  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

for  one  specialty  now  for  another,  does  not  give  the 
child  the  consciousness  of  unity  and  continuity  of  ex- 
perience and  of  learning,  nor  does  it  ever  enable  him 
to  see  the  relatedness  of  knowledge  unless  he  discovers 
it  for  himslf.  His  over-specialized  teaching  thinks 
the  work  of  teaching  the  specialty  too  important  and 
generally  the  work  of  bringing  out  the  correlations 
"is  not  my  work." 

The  special  teacher  will  not  admit  and  will  not  as- 
sume responsibility  for  instruction  of  correlation  with 
other  subjects  with  her  specialty  except  incidentally, 
which  is  accidentally,  which  is  almost  never. 

Under  this  system  the  child  passes  through  layers 
of  consciousness  each  day,  but  the  layers  are  separated 
by  non-conducting  strata  of  other  experiences.  To 
consciously  realize  his  identity  during  the  day's  routine 
of  changes  of  teachers  and  subjects,  the  child  must  be 
able  to  pass  forward  and  backward  through  the  day's 
experiences  from  time  to  time,  must  be  able  to  feel  and 
to  be  aware  of  the  "ego"  in  it,  or  for  him  the  "I"  and 
"my"  and  "me"  will  not  arise  in  consciousness.  Then 
only  his  play  is  developing  his  awareness  of  his  per- 
sonal identity. 

Hence  the  growing  child  needs  to  stay  with  one 
teacher  so  that  all  the  day's  lessons  shall  be  tied  to- 
gether into  a  single  string  of  consciousness,  as  if  the 
day's  experiences  had  been  a  continuous  moving  pic- 
ture. The  layer  consciousness  or  the  separate  picture 
plan  of  developing  thought  resembles  the  adult's  awak- 
ening from  a  dream.  Dream  and  actual  experience  can 
not  easily  be  separated  from  each  other.  If  it  seems 
likely  that  the  one-room  one-teacher  plan  of  organiza- 


MODEL  TEACHING  79 

tion  is  to  continue,  there  is  warrant  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  teacher-supervision  in  every  school  system  that 
can  afford  it. 

The  teaching  duties  of  the  teacher-supervisor  are 
necessary  because  in  every  school  system  there  are 
teachers,  even  some  of  long  service,  who  can  not  teach 
the  special  subjects  or  who  think  and  say  they  can  not 
teach  them.  Hence  the  special  subjects  must  be  taught 
to  the  classes  of  these  teachers  by  a  special  teacher,  or 
the  pupils  must  lose  the  instruction,  which  is  not  per- 
missible since  supervision  is  under  especial  obligation 
to  equalize  the  instructional  opportunities  of  the  chil- 
dren. 

Only  the  new  presentation,  or  the  presentation  of 
new  aspects  or  of  new  methods  should  be  the  teaching 
responsibility  of  the  teacher-supervisor.  The  drill  or 
necessary  repetition  of  such  lessons  as  music  and  writ- 
ing, or  the  completion  of  such  work  as  drawing,  should 
be  the  responsibility  of  the  room  teacher  after  observa- 
tion of  the  special  teacher's  start  of  the  work  and  espe- 
cially after  consultation  with  the  teacher-supervisor 
as  to  the  purpose  and  methods  to  be  used  in  any  case 
of  series  or  set  of  lessons  which  together  constitute  a 
unit. 

While  the  teacher-supervisor  is  making  these  pre- 
sentations, is  doing  this  model  teaching,  the  room 
teacher  must  be  observing  the  process  so  as  to  become 
capable  of  continuing  the  work  begun  or  of  repeating 
the  exercise  given.  The  teacher-supervisor  is  teaching 
to  permit  the  untrained  room  teacher  to  become  able 
to  do  her  own  teaching  in  the  subject  under  the  guid- 
ance of  the  supervisor. 


80  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

The  success  of  the  special  teaching  is  to  render  the 
room  teacher  capable  of  doing  the  work  in  the  specialty 
with  guidance  and  direction  by  the  supervisor.  If  the 
room  teacher  needs  less  and  less  teaching  of  her  classes 
by  the  teacher-supervisor,  then  she  is  becoming  strong- 
er and  the  system  is  becoming  more  stable  and  self- 
sustaining,  since  the  less  teaching  the  supervisor  must 
do  the  more  supervision  she  can  take  care  of.  Under 
the  careful  direction  of  the  teacher-supervisor  the  room 
teacher  becomes  stronger,  self -helpful  and  independent 
of  crutches. 

The  supervisory  duty  of  the  teacher-supervisor  may 
require  her  occasionally  to  teach  a  type  or  model  lesson 
or  to  present  some  new  and  recently  devoloped  feature 
of  the  special  subject.  Here  the  teaching  of  the  super- 
visor will  end. 

The  more  valuable  service  of  the  supervisor  is  to 
awaken  belief  in  capability  of  achievement  and  desire 
of  achievement  in  the  special  branch,  to  set  up  stand- 
ards of  achievement  suited  to  the  conditions  of  the 
work  in  the  school  system,  to  bring  to  the  teacher  a 
reserve  of  knowledge  and  of  devices  which  the  super- 
visor possesses  only  because  of  better  training  and  of 
longer  experience. 

Although  the  room  teacher  is  continually  admon- 
ished to  keep  up  to  the  times,  the  teacher-supervisor 
must  assume  this  responsibility  within  the  field  of  the 
specialty.  The  room  teacher  should  read  books  and 
magazines,  should  attend  institutes  and  conferences 
for  new  ideas  and  plans.  So  must  the  supervisor,  and 
it  is  distinctly  the  supervisor's  obligation  to  select  and 
to  adapt  these  new  ideas  to  the  previously  adopted  sys- 


PROGRAM  OF  VISITS  81 

tern.  The  supervisor  made  or  helped  to  make  the  orig- 
inal plans;  additions,  changes,  omissions  from  those 
plans  are  the  supervisor's  work. 

Given  the  180  teachers,  given  teacher-supervisors 
in  writing,  drawing  and  vocal  music,  how  shall  the 
teaching-supervising  be  done  to  improve  the  teaching 
both  present  and  future? 

First,  a  program  of  visits  to  schoolrooms  must  be 
arranged.  This  must  show  on  which  school  day  each 
supervisor  shall  visit  each  school  building.  This  pro- 
gram must  be  made  by  the  superintendent,  or  must 
certainly  have  his  approval.  Otherwise  it  will  happen 
and  happen  frequently,  that  several  supervisors  will 
visit  the  same  building  on  the  same  day  or  on  follow- 
ing days. 

The  time  between  visits  of  supervisors  needs  to  be 
most  exactly  and  most  evenly  distributed.  Supervision 
must  be  stimulating  and  not  irritating.  "Oh,  for  a 
week  of  freedom  from  supervisors?"  was  one  teacher's 
prayer  to  her  superintendent  in  a  school  system  where 
the  supervisors  tried  their  best  to  suit  their  programs 
to  each  other,  but  felt  at  liberty  to  make  changes  when 
they  pleased.  A  schedule  rigidly  adhered  to  is  desir- 
able and  necessary. 

What  takes  place  when  the  supervisor  visits  a 
schoolroom?  The  supervisor  observes  the  work  of  the 
teacher,  makes  notes  and  forms  a  judgment  as  to  the 
worth  of  the  work  observed.  To  do  any  good  this  judg- 
ment must  get  into  the  teacher's  possession.  What 
shall  be  observed?  What  shall  be  recorded?  How 
shall  conference  between  room  teacher  and  supervisor 


82  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

be  arranged?    The  form  here  inserted  answers  these 
questions. 

ANY  SCHOOL  DISTRICT 

Notes' of  {regular!  ^^^^^   °^   *^^   ^^^'^^    °^ 

Miss ". ,  teacher  of 

grades, School,  on 

a.  m p,  m 

19.  . .  .,  a.  m p.  m 

I.     SUPERVISOR:  II.     TEACHER: 

a.  Taught    Min.      a.  Taught    Min. 

b.  Observed Min.      b.  Observed Min. 

NOTE — Check  item  or  enter  your  judgment. 

III.     RESPONSE  OF  PUPILS: 

a.  Attentive    d.  Enthusiastic    

b.  Try   e.  Indifferent    

c.  Work  hard  / 

IV.     ATTITUDE   OF  TEACHER: 

a.  Enthusiastic   c.  Neutral   

b.  Interested  d 

V.     RESULTS  OBSERVED  THIS  VISIT: 

a.  Excellent    d.  Unsatisfactory 

b.  Satisfactory    e 

c.  Improving   / 

VL     CONDITIONS  FOR  WORK: 

a  Favorable    b.  Unfavorable   

c d 

VII.     MADE  SUGGESTIONS  TO  TEACHER: 

a.  Yes?    6.  No  ?    

VIII.     FORMER  SUGGESTIONS  USED: 

a.  Yes  ?    6.  No  ?    

IX.  TEACHER  MADE  SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISOR: 

a.  Excellent    c.  Not  usable 

b.  Usable   d 


X.     TIME  FIXED  FOR  CONFERENCE  WITH  TEACHER: 
Date? Hour? Place? 


REMARKS: 

Signature .  .  .  . 
Supervisor 
Special  Teacher 
of 


JUDGMENTS  OP  TEACHERS  83 

Obviously  all  teachers  visited  and  observed  will  be 
judged  on  the  same  points.  Variability  of  the  super- 
visor and  supervision  is  thus  as  nearly  eliminated  as  is 
humanly  possible.  This  judgment  of  all  teachers  of  a 
system  on  the  same  points  is  local  standardization. 
Each  superintendent  and  supervisor  can  modify  or 
substitute  as  seems  tq  him  wise  and  desirable.  The 
points  as  shown  in  the  foregoing  form  have  been  found 
comprehensive  enough  for  supervisors  and  entirely 
satisfactory  to  teachers. 

No  comparison  of  teachers  is  fair  or  significant  if 
it  merely  records  "fair"  or  "satisfactory"  or  "excel- 
lent," if  the  one  term  is  to  represent  the  teacher's  com- 
plete characterization  by  the  supervisor.  As  observa- 
tion proceeds  and  as  the  judgments  are  formed,  the 
supervisor  enters  them  according  to  the  judgment 
formed.  If  the  terms  listed  seem  inadequate,  the  su- 
pervisor may  select  another,  so  that  dead  level  of  me- 
chanical procedure  is  obviated,  and  spontaneity  is 
given  a  fair  chance. 

The  gain  to  the  teacher,  to  the  supervisor,  and  to 
the  system  is  beyond  the  belief  of  most  persons  who 
have  not  worked  under  such  a  system.  The  teacher 
learns  at  once  just  what  is  the  supervisor's  opinion, 
for  an  original  copy  on  white  paper  is  given  to  the 
teacher  as  her  property,  and  a  duplicate  yellow  sheet 
made  by  using  carbon  paper  under  the  original  sheet 
while  it  was  being  written,  remains  in  the  supervisor's 
possession  to  be  filed  in  the  oflSce  where  the  super- 
intendent can  look  up  any  teacher's  record  in  any  of 
the  special  subjects. 

The  supervisor  discharges  her  obligation  immedi- 
ately by  handing  the  judgment  to  the  teacher,  and  also 
immediately  begins  to  plan  how  to  help  the  teacher. 


84  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

The  superintendent  can  also  immediately  start  to  com- 
mend or  to  correct  the  teacher.  The  children  profit 
since  the  teaching  becomes  better,  and  the  system 
profits  because  the  teacher  is  becoming  a  better  teach- 
er. If  the  teacher  needs  more  time  and  help  than  a 
swiftly  spoken  word,  the  conference  of  supervisor  and 
teacher  can  be  definitely  fixed.  The  check  is  just  as 
real  on  the  supervisor  as  on  the  teacher. 

To  report  the  room  teacher  a  failure  at  the  end  of 
the  term  will  be  more  embarrassing  to  the  supervisor 
than  to  the  room  teacher  if  the  periodical  observations 
of  visits  to  the  teacher's  room  show  good  work  or  show 
no  suggestions  made  and  no  conferences  held  with  the 
teacher.  The  replies  to  items  VII,  VIII,  IX  and  X  will 
be  most  helpful  to  the  superintendent.  Item  X  makes 
sure  that  the  teacher's  own  native  capabilities  and 
powers  shall  not  be  disregarded  nor  depreciated.  Thus 
both  teaching  and  supervision  are  vitalized  and  invig- 
orated. 

At  the  end  of  the  month  the  supervisor  makes  a 
monthly  report  to  the  superintendent  on  the  form 
shown  on  page  85. 

From  this  report  by  the  supervisors  the  superin- 
tendent can  learn  just  which  teachers  are  growing  and 
which  standing  still.  Here  commendation  is  proper 
and  always  productive.  Suggestion  for  improvement 
may  be  and  usually  is  productive  if  the  suggestion  is 
concrete  and  practicable. 

To  the  careless  and  indifferent  teacher  the  reports 
will  guide  the  supervisor  without  loss  of  time.  The 
prophet  Nathan's  rebuke  to  David  was  crushing  be- 
cause the  prophet  could  say  to  David,  "Thou  art  the 
man."    Slowness  or  slackness  of  teachers  is  promptly 


MONTHLY  REPORT  85 

ANY  SCHOOL  DISTRICT. 

Monthly  report  of 

Supervisor 

Special  Teacher  of 

for  the school  month,  ending 

19 

1.  Number  of  days  spent  visiting  schools? 

2.  Number  of  days  spent  in  office  work? 

3.  Number  of  days  absent  from  work? 

4.  Number  of  regular  visits  made? 

5.  Number  of  special  visits  made? 

6.  Number  of  rooms  whose  results  were  satisfactory  or  bet- 

ter?      

7.  Number   of   rooms  whose   results   were   unsatisfactory   or 

worse?    

8.  Write  names  of  teachers  and  schools  whose  work  is  notably 

improving,  on  the  back  of  this  sheet  under  the  heading 
VIIL 

9.  Write  the  names  and  schools  whose  work  is  unsatisfactory 

or  worse,  on  the  back  of  this  sheet  under  the  heading 
IX. 

10.  No.  of  rooms  where  conditions  were  favorable? 

Unfavorable? 

11.  Suggestions  given  to  teachers:    number  "yes"? 

"no"? 

12.  Number  of  lessons  taught? 

13.  Number  of  lessons  observed? 

14.  Number  of  teachers'  meetings  held? 

15.  Number  of  conferences  held  with  individual  teachers? 

16.  Number  of  teachers  made  suggestions  to  supervisor? 

17.  Enter  remarks  on  the  back  of  this  sheet. 

18.  Have  you  replied  to  all  the  questions? 

Respectfully  submitted. 


Supervisor. 


Place 

Date 19. 


86  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

detected  and  can  be  quickly  made  the  subject  of  a  spe- 
cial conference. 

In  the  conference,  the  teacher  discovers  the  super- 
visor's wider  experience,  wider  grasp,  and  the  fuller 
knowledge.  The  teacher  can  supplement  her  own 
knowledge  of  subject  or  of  ways  and  means  by  draw- 
ing on  the  supervisor's  and  even  by  drawing  on  the 
superintendent's  if  that  be  still  broader  and  longer 
than  the  supervisor's.  Thus  the  teacher  will  have  more 
to  give  the  children,  and  the  system  is  stronger  be- 
cause all  of  its  resources  become  available  for  every 
need. 

To  the  superintendent  the  notes  of  observations 
which  the  supervisors  file  in  their  card  index  with  the 
teacher's  record,  are  most  informing,  as  are  also  the 
items  of  the  monthly  report.  If  items  5  and  11  were 
very  small  or  entirely  blank,  what  would  that  tell  the 
superintendent  about  the  supervision?  Every  sum- 
mary of  the  month's  visits  as  reported  by  the  super- 
visor is  a  great  enlightener  to  the  superintendent  as  to 
the  work  not  only  of  the  teacher  but  of  the  supervisor's 
also. 

If  teaching  is  improved,  if  the  teacher  is  made 
stronger,  if  the  supervisor  is  made  more  alert  and  more 
studious  in  devising  the  right  kind  of  guidance  to  give, 
and  if  the  superintendent  is  wiser  and  better  in- 
formed as  to  the  school  system,  have  we  not  here  a 
form  of  procedure  which  makes  teaching,  supervision, 
and  superintendence  productive? 


CHAPTER  X. 

Ethical  Relations  of  Supervised  and  Supervisor  of 

Instruction. 

Since  supervisor  and  supervised  are  human  beings 
engaged  in  a  human  occupation,  there  must  be  certain 
rules  or  principles  of  right  which  regulate  or  control 
the  relations  of  these  two  persons  in  their  work.  The 
supervisor  has  rights,  as  being  in  authority  and  re- 
sponsibility. The  supervised  also  must  have  rights 
growing  out  of  the  imposed  obligations  and  duties. 
Supervisorship  assumes  larger  knowledge,  more  varied 
experience,  acquaintance  with  a  greater  variety  of 
facts,  better  preparatory  training  in  possession  of  the 
person  clothed  with  authority  to  direct  the  work  of 
instruction. 

Since  the  common  aim,  the  vitalization  of  instruc- 
tion, must  animate  both  supervisor  and  supervised, 
the  better  preparatory  training  must  have  included 
"the  art  of  instruction;"  it  should  also  include  wider 
human  experience.  From  this  superior  equipment  of 
the  supervisor  the  supervised  will  be  able  to  get  help 
when  needed,  will  be  glad  to  accept  suggestions  and 
directions  when  proposed,  will  confidently  invite  crit- 
icism, and  will  cheerfully  accept  condemnation  if  need 
be.  The  supervised  may  be  and  often  is  entirely  the 
equal  of  the  supervisor  in  earnestness  and  devotedness 
of  purpose,  in  diligence  of  application,  in  sympathy 
and  in  enthusiasm  for  the  work. 

Mere  difference  in  rank  or  authority  is  sometimes 
the  conception  of  supervisor  and  supervised.  This 
understanding  of  the  relation  is  entirely  wrong  and 

87 


88  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

wholly  mischievous.  Neither  supervisor  nor  super- 
vised can  hope  to  give  the  best  service  to  the  child 
and  the  school  with  such  an  erroneously  conceived  idea 
of  the  relation. 

Authority  will  very  infreuqently  be  the  recourse 
of  the  good  supervisor.  Instead,  wider  knowledge, 
finer  skill  of  adaptation,  will  win  acceptance  and  adap- 
tation of  the  supervisor's  directions  or  suggestions. 
Should  irreconcilable  difference  of  opinion  arise,  then 
authority  must  be  exercised,  and  even  then  "a  certain 
sweet  reasonableness"  is  the  better  way  because  it  is 
the  more  enduring  way. 

The  supervisor  who  relies  entirely  upon  power  and 
authority  to  secure  compliance  with  directions  and  sug- 
gestions, will,  of  course,  utterly  disagree  with  the  con- 
siderations stated  in  this  section  as  applying  to  the 
work  of  the  supervisor  and  supervised.  Teachers  (the 
supervised)  are  very  sure  that  there  should  be  very 
explicit  agreement  on  the  points  covered  by  the  prin- 
ciples enumerated.  Many  supervisors  are  willing  to 
admit  the  need  for  observance  of  some  of  the  princi- 
ples. 

Simple  truth  compels  the  statement  that  the  super- 
visory office  is  in  process  of  determination  and  of  de- 
limitation. Some  time  we  shall  probably  come  to  an 
agreement  or  formulation  of  principles  of  right  or 
ethics  which  should  control  supervision  of  instruction. 
Agreement  has  not  yet  been  reached  if  it  has  been  un- 
dertaken. 

Inquiries  from  supervisors  disclose  the  fact  that 
some  supervisors  have  no  awareness  that  such  prin- 
ciples might  exist,  and  others  are  ready  to  admit  that 
they  observe  a  few  clearly  recognized  principles  in 
their  practice.     The  better  and  best  supervisors  ob- 


AUTHORITY  IN  SUPERVISION  89 

serve  all  the  principles  hereinafter  enumerated  even  if 
they  are  not  fully  conscious  of  just  why  they  do  as  they 
do.  Mostly,  when  asked  the  reason  for  some  form  of 
procedure,  the  reply  comes,  "Because  that  is  the  way  I 
should  like  to  be  treated."  The  reply  shows  respect 
and  obedience  to  the  very  highest  ethical  requirement, 
namely,  to  the  Golden  Rule  of  the  Master. 

In  a  code  of  professional  ethics  adopted  tentatively 
by  the  Pennsylvania  State  Educational  Association  this 
provision  occurs:  "The  superintendent  should  be  rec- 
ognized as  the  educational  expert  of  the  system.  His 
recommendations  should  be  followed  in  matters  per- 
taining to  the  school  policies,  the  selection  of  textbooks 
and  teachers,  and  the  formation  of  the  course  of 
study." 

Here  we  have  the  assertion  of  the  authority  of 
the  supervisor  which  was  stipulated  in  a  foregoing 
paragraph.  "His  recommendations  should  be  fol- 
lowed," has  direct  application  to  the  suggestions  and 
directions  which  will  be  given  to  teachers  in  their 
capacity  as  governors  and  instructors  of  the  school. 
Recalling  that  supervisors  may  be  the  superintendent 
or  any  person  clothed  with  supervisory  authority  like 
the  superintendent's  authority,  our  problem  becomes, 
"To  what  circumstances,  conditions,  or  procedures 
does  the  'should  be  followed'  apply?" 

"Should  be"  applies  to  these  considerations: 

1.  The  supervised  has  the  right  to  know  on  what 
merits,  excellences,  or  faults  the  work  of  the  teacher  is 
to  be  appraised  or  judged.  The  supervised  has  the 
right  to  know  just  what  is  expected.  This  imposes  the 
obligation  of  information,  explanation,  illustration  on 
the  supervisor.  On  the  supervised  it  imposes  effort  to 
know,   to   learn   and   to    understand   and   appreciate 


90  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

the  requirements  of  the  supervisor.  "I  did  not  know 
that  was  expected  of  me,"  can  not  be  put  forward  as  an 
excuse  or  a  self -justification  if  both  supervisor  and 
supervised  fully  meet  the  obligation  of  this  first  need 
for  fair  play  on  both  sides. 

2.  The  supervised  has  the  right  to  a  difference  of 
opinion,  but  must  support  it  by  reference  to  authority 
or  to  accepted  and  established  practice,  or  by  unques- 
tioned excellent  results  of  the  variant  practice.  Pend- 
ing an  adjustment  of  the  difference  of  opinion,  the 
supervisor's  opinion  must  prevail  and  must  be  put  into 
practice  unless  the  supervisor  makes  a  different  sug- 
gestion. Meanwhile  supervisor  and  supervised  should 
each  be  busy  in  search  for  fuller  and  firtmer  confirma- 
tion of  the  several  opinions  which  are  in  conflict.  This 
principle  must  be  acknowledged  so  that  the  individual- 
ity of  the  supervised  shall  not  be  entirely  smothered 
and  suppressed.  The  supervised  may  be  right ;  what  a 
gain  to  that  school  system  to  have  that  acknowledg- 
ment and  to  have  the  right  practice,  method  or  facts 
incorporated  in  the  work  of  all  the  teachers ! 

3.  The  supervised  has  the  right  to  know  what  is 
the  opinion  of  the  supervisor  concerning  any  work 
observed.  This  alone  puts  the  work  on  a  basis  of 
intelligent  effort  to  continue  the  commendable,  to 
remedy  the  remediable,  to  discontinue  the  condem- 
nable.  This  opinion  may  be  imparted  in  a  conference 
or  in  writing,  but  in  one  way  or  another  it  is  the  due  of 
the  supervised.  Failing  to  deliver  such  a  judgment, 
the  supervisor  falls  under  suspicion  of  being  incapable 
of  suggesting  anything  better,  or  even  of  non-acquain- 
tance with  the  excellent  since  it  has  failed  of  recogni- 
tion or  commendation. 

4.  The  supervised  has  the  right  to  expect  a  sugges- 
tion for  the  improvement  of  anything  that  has  been 


COMMENDATION  AND  CONDEMNATION      91 

condemned  in  practice.  Mere  faultfinding  is  not  super- 
vision. Just  as  the  child  should  gain  something  each 
day  he  is  in  school,  so  the  teacher  should  gain  some- 
thing from  each  visit  of  the  supervisor.  Wise  indeed  is 
the  supervisor  who  imposes  this  obligation ;  who  con- 
demns what  is  condemnable  but  only  after  having 
commended  the  commendable.  Each  has  value  for 
better  work  after  the  visit. 

5.  The  supervisor  must  just  as  surely  commend 
the  commendable  as  condemn  the  condemnable.  As- 
surance in  well-doing  is  one  of  the  best  rewards  to  give 
the  teacher.  It  costs  nothing  but  an  exertion  of  the 
sense  of  appreciation  of  the  supervisor,  and  if  properly 
seasoned  is  not  dangerous.  Some  supervisors  say  that 
praise  spoils  teachers.  These  same  supervisors  are  not 
averse  to  accepting  praise  for  their  own  work ;  are  we 
to  assume  that  the  praise  has  a  deteriorating  effect  on 
them?  Then  why  fear  to  praise  teachers  who  deserve 
it? 

6.  The  supervised  has  the  right  to  know  when  the 
supervisor  is  coming  to  observe  the  work.  Unexpected 
visits  to  teachers'  schoolrooms,  unannounced  entries 
into  schoolrooms,  have  been  assumed  to  be  unques- 
tioned rights  of  supervisors  for  all  the  years  of  super- 
vision. If  the  supervisor's  visit  means  a  disarrange- 
ment of  the  day's  program  of  work,  the  supervised 
must  know  in  advance  of  the  supervisor's  coming  so  as 
to  provide  for  the  needed  readjustment  of  the  program. 
Even  if  the  visit  is  that  of  the  superintendent  who 
expects  the  regular  order  of  exercises  to  be  followed 
during  his  visit,  the  supervised  still  has  the  right  to 
expect  to  be  informed  in  advance  of  the  visit.  If  this 
seems  too  radical  a  departure  from  the  ordinary  unan- 
nounced, "detective,"  supervisory  visit,  it  may  be  pro- 


92  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

posed  that  at  least  half  of  the  supervisory  visits  should 

occur  by  pre-arrangement.     That  would  equalize  the 

chances  of  the  teacher  against  the  "suspicions"  of  the 

supervisor. 

7.  The  supervised  has  the  right  to  conferences 
with  the  supervisor ;  some  conferences  before  supervi- 
sion; some  conferences  after  supervision;  some  con- 
ferences before  and  after  the  term  begins ;  some  con- 
ferences on  Saturdays;  but  most  of  these  needed 
conferences  should  be  in  school  time,  at  the  expense  of 
the  school  system,  since  the  conference  is  for  the  bet- 
terment of  the  school  work. 

8.  The  supervised  has  the  right  to  ask  for  a  second 
trial  for  any  work  that  the  supervisor  finds  unsatisfac- 
tory, if  the  supervised  feels  that  circumstances  were 
not  favorable  to  highest  effort.  The  second  trial  will 
necessarily  be  by  prearrangement  for  the  observation. 

9.  The  supervised  is  under  obligation  to  conquer 
fear  and  nervousness  attending  the  visit  of  the  super- 
visor. If  supervision  brings  help  and  resource,  fear 
and  nervousness  will  easily  pass  into  gladness  to  see 
the  helpful  friend.  In  every  large  school  system  super- 
vision is  necessary,  therefore  teachers  must  accustom 
themselves  to  the  supervisors'  visits.  Fear  of  a  super- 
visor is  best  overcome  by  carrying  out  the  suggestions 
made  on  a  preceding  visit.  That  will  bring  cominenda- 
tion  from  the  supervisor,  and  commendation  is  the 
specific  antidote  for  teachers'  fear  and  nervousness 
of  supervisors. 

10.  The  supervised  has  the  right  to  expect  all  her 
teaching  work  to  be  seen  and  valuated  when  the  com- 
posite judgment  of  her  work  is  to  be  fixed.  No  single 
visit  by  the  most  expert  supervisor  can  do  the  teacher 
justice.     A  single  class  or  recitation  may  have  been 


JUDGING  TEACHER'S  WORK  93 

observed  during  the  visit.  That  may  be  the  lesson  or 
subject  in  which  the  teacher  has  least  spontaneous 
interest  and  enthusiasm.  All  her  work  should  be 
judged  only  after  observation.  The  subjects  for  which 
she  has  natural  enthusiasm  and  aptitude  must  be  seen 
and  judged  as  surely  and  as  fully  as  the  subjects  which 
she  admits  she  does  not  like  as  well  as  the  others. 

11.  The  successful  teacher  has  as  much  right  to 
supervision  as  the  weak  teacher.  Otherwise  she  never 
secures  her  meed  of  encouragement  and  commendation. 
Some  supervisors  entirely  neglect  the  best  teachers  and 
spend  all  their  time  with  the  weak  teachers.  This  is 
wrong  from  every  point  of  view.  The  weak  teacher 
needs  most  attention  and  help,  but  it  is  hardly  encour- 
aging to  be  made  conspicuous  for  weakness  by  con- 
tinual visits  of  the  supervisor  while  other  teachers  are 
never  visited.  In  this  aspect  of  the  obligations  of 
supervisors  we  discover  the  most  convincing  proof  that 
supervision  and  the  ethics  of  supervision  have  not  be- 
come very  clear.  Not  time  enough  for  real  and  com- 
plete supervision  is  permitted  in  any  school  system,  so 
supervisors  continually  justify  the  neglect  of  the  capa- 
ble teachers  by  the  excuse,  "There  is  not  time  enough 
to  visit  all,  so  I  visit  those  who  need  it  most."  When  it 
arrives,  the  supervisory  system  of  the  future  will 
provide  substitute  teachers  who  will  be  used  to  free 
teachers  for  conferences  with  supervisors  in  school 
hours.  Then  supervisors  and  supervised  will  profit  by 
the  conference  and  will  draw  strength  and  inspiration 
from  it  as  if  it  were  an  Antaean  contact. 

12.  The  young  or  beginning  teacher  has  the  right 
to  receive  help,  advice,  counsel,  and  suggestion  before 
supervision,  so  as  to  avoid  criticism  after  supervision. 
This  right  has  been  little  recognized  and  observed  even 
in  teacher  training  schools.     Yet  the  best  work  of 


94  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

supervision  may  be  done  here.  Crudeness  and  imper- 
fections can  be  taken  out  of  plans  and  outlines  before  a 
fault  has  been  committed ;  responsibility  of  supervisor 
and  supervised  becomes  equal  and  rests  on  both ;  fail- 
ure of  the  plan  is  guarded  against;  success  of  the 
effort  is  much  more  probable,  and  the  supervised  gets 
the  best  tonic  in  the  world,  that  is,  a  measure  of  con- 
sciousness of  success  confirmed  by  the  supervisor's 
commendation. 

13.  The  supervised  has  the  right  to  expect  the 
supervisor  to  convey  and  to  impart  knowledge  of  newer 
and  better  ways  of  doing  the  work,  of  acquainting  the 
supervised  with  progressive  developments  of  subject 
matter,  and  of  later  and  better  methods  of  instruction. 
The  supervisor  must  accept  and  must  discharge  this  re- 
sponsibility. The  supervisor  can  do  it.  If  it  be  left  to 
the  supervised,  results  will  be  divergent  and  various, 
when  they  should  be  unified  and  concentrated  to  a 
single  end.  Therefore  the  supervisor  must  be  held 
responsible  for  the  introduction  and  incorporation  of 
newer  and  later  ideas. 

14.  The  supervised  has  the  right  to  expect  allow- 
ance to  be  made  for  the  conditions  under  which  the 
work  is  being  done.  Usually  this  has  been  observed 
and  conceded,  but  instances  are  not  wanting  in  which 
the  supervisor  blamed  the  supervised  for  unsatisfac- 
tory results  due  to  untoward  conditions,  which  were 
entirely  out  of  the  control  and  direction  of  the  super- 
vised. Lack  of  spelling  books  in  one  school  was  not 
accepted  by  a  supervisor  for  failure  of  the  class  to  pass 
spelling:  "You  should  have  had  the  words  written  on 
the  blackboard,"  urged  the  supervisor.  "We  did  that, 
and  found  at  the  end  of  the  term  that  many  words  had 
been  put  on  the  blackboard  incorrectly  and  were  thus 


CONDEMNATION  BEFORE  PUPILS  95 

spelled  by  the  children."  This  provoked  a  quarrel 
which  led  to  the  dismissal  of  the  teacher,  a  inanifest 
wrong  to  her.  Obviously,  when  the  shortage  of  spell- 
ing books  was  discovered  it  should  have  become  the 
obligation  of  the  supervisor  to  see  that  spelling  books 
were  supplied,  or  failing  in  that,  to  give  directions 
which  would  have  given  the  teacher  a  fair  chance  to 
meet  her  obligations. 

15.  The  supervised  has  the  right  to  expect  allow- 
ance to  be  made  for  the  fact  that  no  teacher  can  be  an 
enthusiast  in  every  subject.  Any  teacher  will  admit 
as  fair  a  comparison  of  her  work  with  another  teacher 
who  is  not  a  specialist  nor  an  expert,  but  teachers  feel 
it  is  unfair  to  be  expected  to  teach  drawing  with  the 
enthusiasm  of  the  expert  supervisor  in  drawing,  and 
so  on.  Many  young  supervisors  make  a  bad  start  at 
this  point,  especially  with  experienced  teachers.  The 
supervisor  will  reach  a  safe  and  sane  judgment  at  this 
point  if  she  will  ask,  "How  would  I  wish  to  be  judged 
in  some  branch  which  is  not  my  specialty?" 

16.  The  supervised  has  the  right  to  be  treated 
with  consideration  and  respect  before  her  school  or 
class.  No  teacher  should  be  criticised  or  condemned 
before  her  pupils.  This  official  crime  and  social  sin  has 
long  been  recognized  and  even  abhorred  by  good  super- 
visors, but  it  is  still  sufficiently  frequent  to  require 
mention  and  condemnation  in  any  discussion  of  ethics 
of  supervision  of  instruction.  Similarly,  the  super- 
vised must  not  condemn  nor  ridicule  the  supervisor. 
Respect  and  the  show  of  respect  'must  be  mutual. 
Differences  of  opinion  must  be  considered  and  dis- 
cussed privately  in  conference  and  agreement  arrived 
at.  If  then  the  supervised  cannot  agree  with  the  super- 
visor, there  is  but  one  ethical  course  left;  the  super- 
vised should  ask  to  be  transferred  or  should  resign. 


96  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

These  rights  and  reciprocal  obligations  are  not  con- 
tractual, as  is  well  known.  They  are  purely  ethical, 
that  is,  they  rest  entirely  upon  the  consideration  of  the 
question,  "What  would  you  like  if  you  were  in  her 
place?"  A  clearly  judicial  attitude  of  mind  is  needed 
on  both  sides  to  reach  a  common  and  acceptable  judg- 
ment. 

Thus  contemplated,  there  can  eventually  be  but  one 
answer  in  almost  every  case.  If  the  relation  of  super- 
vised and  supervisor  is  to  become  impersonal  and  pro- 
fessional, then  these  considerations  and  such  others  as 
experience  shall  disclose  and  clarify  must  be  generally 
recognized  in  our  thought,  discussion  and  practice.  If 
supervision  is  ever  to  get  away  from  a  predominance 
of  personal  considerations,  and  if  it  is  ever  to  rise  to 
the  higher  plane  of  purely  professional  considerations, 
then  the  ethical  principles  that  govern  supervisor  and 
supervised  must  be  everywhere  regarded  and  observed. 

Where  differences  of  opinion  arise,  if  the  difference 
is  not  reconcilable  into  an  agreement,  the  supervisor's 
opinion  must  prevail,  of  course,  but  the  supervisor  with 
discretion,  with  large  knowledge,  with  sympathy  for 
human  nature,  and  with  the  ability  to  appreciate  an- 
other person's  point  of  view,  will  be  glad  to  use  an  eth- 
ical basis  for  the  accommodation  of  differences  of  opin- 
ion, and  will  be  glad  to  avoid  the  harsh  and  unsym- 
pathetic exercise  of  arbitrary  authority.  The  work  of 
supervisor  and  supervised  will  be  made  more  substan- 
tially satisfactory  by  elevation  to  the  professional 
plane  through  observance  of  ethical  principles. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

The  Personal  Versus  the  Professional  Attitude 
Toward  Supervision. 
Are  there  two  attitudes  ?  What  are  the  character- 
istics of  each?  Which  is  more  common?  Is  either  or 
are  both  natural  ?  Acquired  ?  Is  either  predominantly 
a  masculine  or  a  feminine  trait? 

A  profession  requires  a  body  of  knowledge,  scien- 
tific knowledge,  in  possession  of  one  who  applies  that 
knowledge,  and  the  application  is  an  art  or  a  profes- 
sion. Teaching  or  instruction  has  a  body  of  knowledge 
called  methods  of  teaching,  and  the  application  of 
those  to  the  process  of  instructing  children  gives  us 
the  art  of  teaching. 

For  reasons  which  can  not  be  discussed  here,  not 
all  teachers  can  get  knowledge  and  skill  in  the  use  of 
methods  of  teaching  before  they  assume  the  duties  of 
the  office,  hence  need  arises  for  some  official  to  bring 
the  untrained  and  inexperienced  into  possession  of  the 
knowledge  of  methods  and  into  practice  of  them  as 
speedily  as  possible.  The  office  of  direction,  of  guid- 
ance, of  encouragement,  arises  hence,  and  we  have  the 
supervisor  of  instruction  charged  with  that  duty. 

The  supervisor  is  appointed  because  he  represents 
much  training  and  long  experience  in  both  science  and 
art  of  instruction.  To  the  sum  of  the  knowledge  ac- 
quired by  training  he  adds  much  knowledge  and  skill 
from  his  experience.  Hence  it  follows  that  the  super- 
visor has  knowledge,  training  and  professional  experi- 
ence before  becoming  a  supervisor. 

97 


98  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

By  reason  of  this  knowledge,  training  and  experi- 
ence, the  supervisor  has  a  wider  outlook,  a  deeper  in- 
sight and  more  practical  judgment  of  values  than  the 
young  teacher.  Therefore  the  supervisor  is  given  au- 
thority to  direct,  to  modify,  to  initiate,  as  his  judgment 
directs.  The  supervisor  thus  has  two  influences  to 
give  the  office  importance  and  standing,  what  he  is  as 
an  official  (authority),  and  what  he  can  wield  as  the 
member  of  a  profession. 

The  teacher  has  all  of  the  possessions  of  the  super- 
visor, probably  in  lesser  degree.  The  authority  given 
the  teacher  relates  to  the  child,  just  as  the  supervisor's 
authority  relates  to  the  teacher.  Both  teacher  and 
supervision  belong  to  the  profession  which  applies  the 
science  of  education  through  the  art  of  teaching.  That 
much  is  clear  and  will  probably  not  be  disputed  or 
questioned  by  anybody. 

Professionally  both  are  committed  by  a  sacred  duty 
to  so  apply  the  science  of  instruction  that  the  child  may 
most  quickly  and  most  economically  get  ivhat  the 
schools  have  for  him  to  learn.  This  does  not  include 
all  the  teacher's  responsibilities,  but  in  the  field  of  in- 
struction that  is  her  obligation.  To  see  that  such  an 
application  of  the  science  of  education  is  actually  made 
becomes  the  duty  of  the  supervisor. 

What  therefore  is  the  professional  attitude  toward 
supervision? 

j       First,  the  teacher  will  enter  into  the  aims  and  pur- 
jposes  of  the  supervisor. 

I       Second,  the  teacher  will  give  the  supervisor  sin- 
cere support  and  full  confidence. 

Third,  the  teacher  will  accept  directions  and  sug- 
gestions as  given  her  to  promote  instruction,  that  is, 
to  enable  her  to  teach  most  in  least  time. 


PROFESSIONAL  ATTITUDE  99 

Fourth,  the  teacher  will  not  regard  criticism  as  a 
personal  matter,  but  will  regard  it  entirely  according 
to  its  adaptability  to  the  end  of  improving  instruction. 

Fifth,  the  teacher  will  not  give  thought  to  the 
agreeableness  or  disagreeableness  of  the  supervisor 
until  she  has  studied  out  the  value  of  the  suggestions 
or  criticism  for  the  improvement  of  instruction. 

Sixth,  the  teacher  should  forget  unlikable  or  dis- 
agreeable features  of  the  supervisor  by  thinking  of  the 
good  advice  and  of  the  practical  assistance  rendered 
by  the  supervisor. 

Seventh,  every  teacher  should  be  loyal  to  the  super- 
visor whether  the  supervisor  is  or  is  not  personally 
liked  by  her. 

Eighth,  every  teacher  should  seek  advice  and  help 
from  her  supervisor  for  her  difficulties. 

When  the  teacher  thinks  of  herself  and  her  rela- 
tions to  the  supervisor  and  of  some  other  teacher,  she 
is  on  the  ground  of  personal  relations  and  not  on  the 
ground  of  professional  relations.  When  the  teacher 
thinks  of  the  supervisor  in  terms  of  her  likes  and  dis- 
likes she  has  entirely  departed  from  professional  con- 
siderations and  is  entirely  on  the  ground  of  personal 
relations.  When  she  thinks  of  her  supervisor  in  terms 
of  "Daddy  Smith"  she  is  not  only  on  purely  personal 
grounds  but  is  on  personal  grounds  that  are  damaging 
to  her.  "Daddy  Smith"  has  much  professional  accom- 
plishment to  his  credit,  or  he  would  not  be  a  super- 
visor. For  that  he  is  entitled  to  respectful  considera- 
tion as  a  fellow  teacher. 

The  fact  that  he  has  been  given  the  office  and  the 
responsibility  of  supervisor  shows  he  is  held  in  esteem 
by  the  directors  and  their  friends.  That  too  entitles 
him  to  respect.    The  many  kind  and  encouraging  words 


100  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

he  has  spoken  to  teachers  in  trouble  and  distress  also 
entitle  him  to  respectful  and  grateful  consideration. 

The  teacher  who  thinks  of  her  supervisor  entirely 
in  terms  of  her  relations  to  him  is  very  narrow  and 
very  selfish.  The  supervisor  has  just  the  same  kind 
of  relations  to  scores  and  perhaps  hundreds  of  teach- 
ers. From  the  very  nature  of  the  case  she  should  see 
that  it  is  almost  impossible  for  the  supervisor  to  think 
of  his  relations  to  any  teacher  in  personal  terms,  but 
is  compelled  to  think  only  of  the  professional  relation, 
that  is,  the  relation  in  which  personal  consideration 
is  the  secondary  and  not  the  primary  consideration, 
because  the  supervisor  does  not  know  the  teacher  as  a 
person  at  all  but  only  as  a  teacher. 

The  teacher  who  thinks  of  the  effect  on  her  welfare 
as  a  person  first  is  receiving  her  supervisor's  proffered 
help  on  personal  and  not  on  professional  grounds.  Of 
course  it  is  depressing  if  the  supervisor  does  not  com- 
mend the  teacher's  work,  but  that  depression  should 
first  be  regret  that  the  teacher  has  not  risen  higher 
and  gone  ahead  faster  in  her  mastery  of  professional 
teaching  skill.  The  regret  that  the  poor  opinion  will 
not  bring  an  expected  raise  in  classification  and  thus 
result  in  salary  increase  will  come,  must  come  if  the 
teacher  be  human,  but  the  regret  should  appear  only 
after  the  sorrow  and  disappointment  on  professional 
grounds  has  waned. 

The  highest  plane  of  professional  attitude  toward 
supervision  is  required  by  the  teacher  who  has  done 
her  best,  has  continuously  and  consistently  tried  to 
use  the  supervisor's  suggestions  and  directions  and  yet 
can  not  secure  the  supervisor's  commendation  for  su- 
perior or  excellent  work. 


TEMPERED  SUBMISSION  101 

*  It  requires  not  only  a  professional  attitude  but  a 
sublime  resignation  to  have  reached  your  highest  level 
and  to  have  made  your  best  effort,  then  to  be  told  that 
your  best  is  not  professionally  the  best,  and  then  to 
keep  on  doing  your  best  even  after  that.  Of  some  ex- 
perienced teachers  this  resignation  and  supreme  sub- 
mission to  the  fact  of  a  limited  natural  endowment  is 
necessary. 

The  Edisons  and  Burbanks  are  not  numerous.  No 
generation  has  yet  produced  more  than  one  Thomas 
Arnold  or  more  than  one  Mark  Hopkins.  Tempered 
submission  and  resigned  acceptance  of  limitation  has 
for  its  converse  a  finely  tempered,  sober  rejoicing  in 
the  fact  of  high  commendation  by  the  supervisor. 

The  professional  attitude  toward  success  permits 
rejoicing  but  not  exultation  over  a  less  richly  endowed 
guild  brother.  The  exultation  at  once  lowers  the  ex- 
perience to  the  personal  level.  The  professional  atti- 
tude permits  the  acceptance  of  power  and  skill  of  an 
order  below  the  highest,  but  it  does  not  permit  sulk- 
ing and  spiteful  criticism  of  the  supervisor ;  the  latter 
is  purely  personal  feeling. 

Very  solid  satisfaction  is  possible  to  teachers  under 
supervision  if  they  will  cultivate  the  professional  atti- 
tude toward  it.  When  supervisory  criticism  is  not  so 
favorable  it  will  be  accompanied  by  suggestions  of  help. 
The  suggestions  may  and  probably  will  improve  the 
work.  Higher  professional  standing  comes  next, 
thence  purer  professional  attitude. 

If  the  teacher  is  sure  she  has  done  her  best  and  if 
the  supervisor  can  give  no  further  suggestions,  the 
teacher  will  find  it  easily  possible  to  accept  the  judg- 
ment "good  but  not  excellent."  She  must  remember 
that  the  supervisor  sees  and  judges  all  kinds  of  work 


102  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

all  the  time.  Some  teachers  are  getting  the  judgment 
"excellent."  If  not  given  to  her  she  must  be  able  to 
accept  the  fact  professionally  and  believe  that  if  the 
supervisor  thought  her  work  "excellent"  he  would  say 
so.  That  state  of  mind  may  be  a  very  satisfying  one. 
To  think  of  the  matter  in  terms  of  disappointment  and 
to  blame  the  supervisor  for  partiality  is  to  make  ready 
for  unhappiness  and  even  poorer  work  as  a  conse- 
quence. 

Recognition  that  the  teacher  is  doing  her  best,  that 
that  best  is  satisfactory  to  the  supervisor,  and  is  doing 
much  for  the  children,  makes  the  recognition  of  limita- 
tion supportable  with  a  smiling  face  and  a  glad  heart. 

The  teacher  should  regard  the  supervisor  with  a 
feeling  of  deference  such  as  she  expects  from  the 
parent.  The  teacher  expects  the  parent  to  defer  to  her 
in  matters  affecting  the  child's  schooling.  The  teacher 
has  the  professional  point  of  view,  or  at  least  she  tells 
the  parent  so  if  any  question  arises  as  to  whether  she 
knows  more  about  education  as  a  process. 

Precisely  the  deference  which  the  teacher  expects 
the  parent  to  show  to  her,  that  deference  she  owes  to 
the  supervisor,  and  for  precisely  the  same  reason.  The 
supervisor  has  had  more  training  and  more  experience 
hence  must  be  assumed  to  know  more  professionally 
than  the  teacher,  and  because  of  this  greater  knowledge 
and  larger  experience  the  supervisor  has  a  right  to 
expect  and  to  be  accorded  professional  respect  and  con- 
sideration from  the  teacher. 

The  teacher  should  show  and  should  express  grati- 
tude to  the  supervisor  for  help  proffered.  Although 
the  relation  is  official,  and  it  may  fairly  be  assumed 
that  the  supervisor  owes  it  to  his  office  and  to  the  child 
to  help  the  teacher,  it  is  a  gracious  and  grateful  act  to 


APPRECIATION  103 

thank  the  supervisor  for  help  given,  even  if  there  be 
the  obligation  to  do  so. 

At  the  same  time  that  the  supervisor  is  giving  help 
to  the  teacher  as  owed  to  his  children,  he  is  giving  her 
personal  help ;  she  can  profit  by  the  suggestions  at  any 
time  and  in  any  other  position  in  the  future.  His  help 
is  increasing  the  value  of  the  capitalized  experience 
of  the  teacher.  She  should  realize  this  and  be  grateful 
for  it.  Also,  it  is  entirely  proper  for  the  teacher  to 
express  appreciation  of  the  supervisor's  general  poli- 
cies and  plans.  No  supervisor  is  so  entirely  self-satis- 
fied that  words  of  appreciation  from  his  teachers  are 
not  appreciated. 

If  the  expression  of  appreciation  is  mere  flattery, 
then  the  act  is  on  the  personal,  selfish  level ;  it  is  syco- 
phancy and  is  offensive.  If  it  is  sincere  esteem  of  the 
wisdom  and  excellence  of  the  supervisor's  policy,  and 
if  it  is  expressed  sincerely  as  admiration  of  the  excel- 
lence, it  is  on  the  professional  level  and  is  entirely  war- 
ranted. Appreciation  of  this  kind  generally  does  the 
supervisor  as  much  good  as  it  does  a  teacher  to  have 
her  work  appreciated. 

The  supervisor  is  entirely  human,  and  likes  appre- 
ciation, although  many  teachers  think  he  should  be 
able  to  get  along  without  appreciation,  and  be  satisfied 
with  the  species  of  savagery  which  they  think  he  is 
practicing,  namely,  the  savagery  of  making  cutting 
criticisms.  A  most  pleasant  way  of  expressing  appre- 
ciation was  that  of  the  teacher  who  said,  "We  are  al- 
ways glad  to  see  the  supervisor.  His  visits  always 
help  both  of  us,  the  children  and  me." 

Most  damaging  of  all  attitudes  of  teachers  toward 
the  supervisor  is  that  of  hostility  and  opposition.  This 
makes  the  teacher  uncomfortable  because  it  is  taking 


104  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

a  mean  advantage,  and  she  can  not  be  much  of  a 
teacher  if  doing  mean  acts  does  not  make  her  uncom- 
fortable. 

Also,  it  hurts  the  teacher's  power  for  good.  She 
is  doing  mean  things  rather  than  good  things.  Her 
power  grows  in  the  direction  of  her  actions;  this 
is  unavoidable.  Some  teachers  will  not  do  mean  things 
but  they  think  and  say  mean  things,  doing  it  out  of 
spite.  No  spirit  of  generosity  can  be  nurtured  and 
strengthened  by  the  exercise  of  the  spirit  of  selfishness 
and  meanness.  Figs  could  more  easily  grow  on 
thistles  than  the  teacher  who  is  continually  acting 
from  a  mean  and  malevolent  spirit  toward  her  super- 
visor could  in  all  her  other  conduct  be  an  example  of 
fairness  and  generosity.  The  mean  thoughts  and  acts 
toward  her  supervisor  are  a  poison  to  all  her  thoughts 
and  acts.  Pollute  the  spring  and  every  one  that  draws 
water  from  it  quaffs  a  poisonous  draught. 

One  form  of  disrespect  and  depreciation  of  the  su- 
pervisor is  to  treat  his  criticisms  and  suggestions  with 
disrespect  and  contempt  on  the  theory,  "He  can  not 
esteem  me  any  less  than  I  esteem  him  or  his  opinions ;" 
as  if  the  teacher's  contempt  for  the  supervisor  were 
at  all  to  be  compared  with  the  supervisor's  low  esti- 
mate of  the  teacher.  His  opinion  is  professional,  or 
should  be.  The  teacher's  is  personal.  His  opinion  will 
help  the  teacher  with  other  supervisors  if  good,  or 
harm  them  if  poor. 

The  teacher's  opinion  of  the  supervisor  will  prob- 
ably have  little  effect  on  the  standing  of  the  supervisor, 
but  will  instead  bring  the  teacher  under  suspicion  for 
prejudice,  unprofessional  conception  of  the  relation, 
and  into  contempt  for  unprofessional  conduct.    Teach- 


CONTEMPT  FOR  SUPERVISOR  105 

ers  perhaps  have  not  realized  the  truth  of  that  state- 
ment as  they  might  and  as  they  should  realize  it. 

To  think  poorly  of  the  supervisor  because  he  does 
not  commend  your  work  as  highly  as  you  think  he 
should,  is  not  at  all  getting  square  with  him.  One 
teacher  thought  and  said  so.  "He  has  nothing  on  me," 
she  boasted ;  "he  can  not  think  less  of  me  as  a  teacher 
than  I  think  of  him  as  a  supervisor."  She  thought 
that  her  remark  and  her  feeling  brought  them  to  a 
common  level.  Not  so.  She  had  brought  herself  to 
a  very  low  and  common  level.  Her  remark  was  purely 
and  entirely  personal  spite.  Not  a  particle  of  con- 
ception of  the  professional  relation  is  evident.  He  is 
the  supervisor. 

He  has  the  office,  and  the  authority.  He  has  the 
experience  and  the  training.  His  opinion  would  be 
accepted  in  any  usual  case  and  situation  rather  than 
the  teacher's  just  because  he  has  had  larger  experience 
and  has  wider  knowledge  and  because  his  opinion  is 
not  likely  to  be  tinctured  with  any  regard  for  effect 
upon  self.  It  is  too  well  known  that  some  teachers  try 
to  silence  the  voice  of  conscience  by  such  an  assumed 
contempt  for  the  supervisor.  He  has  condemned  and 
corrected  their  practice.  Conformity  with  his  sug- 
gestions requires  labor  and  exertion.  The  labor  and 
exertion  are  repugnant.  The  criticism  implies  a  short- 
coming ;  but  has  the  teacher  not  taught  school  "accept- 
ably" for  these  many  years?  Then  who  is  this  young 
upstart  of  a  supervisor  that  teachers  of  long  experi- 
ence should  be  corrected  by  him?  It  is  far  easier  to 
treat  his  judgment  with  contempt,  and  to  disregard 
the  suggestions. 

The  teacher  who  pursues  this  course  is  preparing 
the  way  for  great  unhappiness.    The  individual  teacher 


106  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

wlio  finds  herself  in  this  position,  and  who  is  prac- 
tically alone  in  it,  should  take  herself  in  hand  seri- 
ously and  by  dispassionate  self-examination  determine 
just  what  is  the  trouble.  Poor  supervision  exists,  just 
as  poor  teaching  exists.  Teachers  need  not  treat  the 
poor  or  the  counterfeit  article  as  if  it  were  the  excel- 
lent and  the  genuine. 

The  supervisor  represents  an  office  of  great  dignity 
and  of  great  importance  and  all  official  conduct  should 
show  the  respect  and  the  consideration  which  is  due 
the  office.  Personal  friendship  with  the  supervisor 
is  still  a  matter  of  personal  choice.  To  respect  the 
office  and  the  officer  does  not  carry  the  obligation  of 
including  the  official  among  your  intimates  and  per- 
sonal friends.  Just  because  this  affected  depreciation 
of  the  supervisor  is  in  reality  self-depreciation  every 
teacher  should  help  another  teacher  whom  she  finds 
making  this  deplorable  mistake  to  correct  it.  The 
teacher's  poor  opinion  of  the  supervisor  does  not  cancel 
the  supervisor's  poor  opinion  of  the  teacher. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Supervision  of  Instruction. 
I.  Division  of  Responsibility.  There  are  two  quite 
distinct  points  of  view  as  to  the  proper  division  of 
responsibility  for  supervision  of  instruction.  The  pre- 
vailing view  favors  supervisors  and  assistant  superin- 
tendents, who  are  to  visit  the  schools,  observe  the  work, 
criticize  the  teachers,  and  direct  the  teachers'  meetings. 
From  the  point  of  view  of  organization  this  appears 
direct,  logical  and  simple.  As  will  appear  in  the  dis- 
cussion, the  scheme  has  several  very  serious  weak- 
nesses. 

The  other  view,  which  is  regarded  as  rather  novel 
and  visionary,  is  that  the  superintendent  work  with 
and  through  the  principals  and  supervisors  to  reach 
the  teachers,  and  further  serve  as  a  court  of  reference 
and  appeal  for  principals  and  supervisors.  Against 
this  view  is  urged  the  objection  that  the  superin- 
tendent does  not  meet  the  teacher,  and  that  it  tends 
to  arrange  responsibility  in  layers  or  strata  which  in 
turn  tend  to  become  fixed  into  an  official  caste  system. 
The  two  forms  of  procedure  deserve  statement  in  de- 
tail. 

The  superintendent  of  a  system  is  the  chief  direct- 
ing officer.  Next  to  him  stand  one  or  more  assistant 
superintendents.  These  assistants  usually  do  the 
greater  part  of  the  supervision  of  instruction.  The 
work  may  be  divided  between  the  superintendent  and 
assistants  on  a  subject  basis  or  on  a  territorial  basis ; 
if  subject  basis,  then  one  supervises  the  English  and  re- 

107 


108  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

lated  work  and  another  the  arithmetic  and  related 
work,  and  so  on ;  if  territorial  basis,  then  one  visits  the 
schools  in  one  section  and  the  other  in  another  sec- 
tion of  the  territory.  The  special  subject  teachers  or 
supervisors  pass  around  among  their  quota  of  schools 
at  some  fixed  frequency,  and  meet  the  teachers  directly 
for  any  conferences  that  may  be  needed.  Some  very 
thoughtful  person  may  notice  that  the  principal  is 
almost  entirely  left  out  of  this  scheme  insofar  as 
supervision  is  concerned. 

Usually,  grade  meetings  of  teachers  are  held 
monthly,  let  us  say,  and  the  superintendent  or  an 
assistant  or  a  supervisor  directs  the  teachers'  meet- 
ing, sometimes  for  purpose  of  demonstration,  some- 
times for  purposes  of  instruction,  sometimes  for  the 
explanation  of  a  syllabus  or  outline  of  work.  The 
principal  may  or  may  not  attend  the  meeting  of  teach- 
ers and  supervisor.  If  he  does  not  attend,  and  usually 
he  is  too  busy  to  get  to  the  meeting,  it  is  assumed 
that  he  already  knows  everything  that  the  leader  is 
to  say  and  hence  need  not  be  present  but  can  use  the 
time  to  better  advantage  in  administrative  duties. 

When  the  principal  thereafter  tries  to  supervise, 
he  may  find  and  often  does  find  that  his  directions 
and  suggestions  are  different  from  those  given  in  the 
teachers'  meeting;  contradictory  directions  destroy 
confidence  of  the  teacher  in  supervision  and  are  a 
fruitful  source  of  irritation. 

Under  this  plan  many  principals  calmly  accept  the 
situation  and  make  little  effort  to  supervise  as  they 
prefer  administration  to  the  repeated  reply  from 
teachers  when  given  a  suggestion,  "That  is  not  what 
the  supervisor  told  us  to  do,"  or,  "That  is  not  the  way 


UNITY  OF  PURPOSE  109 

the  supervisor  said  it  was  to  be  done."  We  are  in 
danger  of  making  the  principalship  a  wholly  admin- 
istrative function. 

This  will  be  a  serious  impairment  of  the  possibili- 
ties of  supervision.  The  principal  is  the  only  super- 
visory agent  at  hand  for  immediate  help  to  the  teacher 
in  any  situation  of  distress.  We  should  carefully  re- 
member this  fact.  For  very  much  the  same  reason 
that  the  child  in  the  grades  is  best  off  with  one  teacher 
for  all  his  subjects  the  grade  teacher  is  best  off  with 
but  one  supervisor  for  all  her  work.  Unity  of  purpose, 
continuity  and  relatedness  of  the  work  are  easily  se- 
cured and  retained  under  one  supervisor.  These  two 
considerations  outweigh  any  other  claims  that  can  be 
made  for  supervision  of  the  teacher  solely  by  the  su- 
pervisors. 

The  superintendent  in  this  scheme  is  a  sort  of  free 
lance  who  visits  and  supervises  also  as  time  and  incli- 
nation make  possible,  so  that  some  teachers  at  least 
are  also  visited  by  the  superintendent.  Conferences 
of  superintendent  and  supervisors  are  also  a  part  of 
the  scheme,  so  that  the  superintendent's  plans  may  be 
carried  out  into  the  system  by  the  supervisors  and 
special  teachers. 

This  is  necessary  and  wise.  Without  such  an  ar- 
rangement supervision  could  not  be  made  to  contain 
anything  of  the  superintendent's  thought,  purpose  or 
power.  Added  to  this  form  of  transfer  of  ideas  is 
the  institute  which  is  conducted  by  the  superin- 
tendent. The  class  for  professional  study  is  also 
a  part  of  some  schemes.  These  activities  and  form 
of  communication  and  inspiration  comprehend  about 
all  that  is  generally  included  in  a  supervisory  organi- 


110  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

zation.  Undoubtedly  it  has  produced  and  is  pro- 
ducing very  good  results  in  many  places  where  the 
personality  of  a  superintendent  would  breathe  life  and 
impart  vigor  to  almost  any  form  of  organization  and 
procedure  to  pass  on  the  afflatus  of  steady  zeal  and 
high  purpose  in  the  work  of  teaching. 

It  is  conceivable  that  a  system  of  supervision  might 
be  organized  with  no  more  and  no  different  officials 
which  should  easily  maintain  and  retain  unity  of  aim 
and  purpose,  consistency  and  harmony  of  direction  and 
suggestion,  and  intimacy  of  relation  which  will  satisfy 
the  supervisor  and  put  the  teacher's  feet  on  stable 
and  firm  ground  for  her  work. 

In  this  plan  the  superintendent  and  the  assistant 
superintendents  serve  as  the  directors  of  the  principals 
and  the  supervisors,  and  also  as  a  bureau  of  reference 
in  cases  of  difference  of  opinion  between  teachers  and 
principals  or  teachers  and  supervisors,  or  as  the  final 
judge  in  cases  where  principal  or  supervisor  are  in 
doubt  as  to  the  work  or  method  of  any  teacher.  Prin- 
cipals and  grade  or  special  supervisors  must  in  turn 
hold  conferences  before  the  discussion  of  the  superin- 
tendent's instructions  are  transmitted  to  the  teachers. 
The  principal  should  be  present  and  should  participate 
in  every  conference  of  his  teachers  with  the  super- 
visors. 

Thereafter,  the  supervisors  should  visit  the  teach- 
ers to  observe  work,  but  all  suggestions,  directions,  and 
modifications  of  plans  that  are  given  to  any  teacher 
should  be  made  in  the  presence  of  the  principal  unless 
after  a  conference  of  supervisor  and  principal  the  lat- 
ter feels  it  best  to  let  teacher  and  supervisor  talk  over 
the  matter  alone  first.     The  principal  should  know 


HARMONY  OF  DIRECTION  111 

about  the  matter  and  may  need  to  talk  the  situation 
over  with  the  teacher  afterward. 

Harmony  of  direction  and  suggestion  can  not  be 
otherwise  attained,  and  if  there  is  contradiction  be- 
tween principal  and  supervisor,  one  or  the  other  suf- 
fers in  the  estimation  of  the  teacher.  The  teacher  feels 
uncertain,  and  because  of  the  contradiction  and  uncer- 
tainty feels  fully  justified  in  drawing  the  conclusion, 
"Since  the  authorities  differ  and  disagree,  I  may  as 
well  follow  my  own  way."  Fatal  state  for  supervision, 
and  unhappy  fate  for  the  teacher,  when  such  condi- 
tions arise  or  already  exist.  Instead  of  the  grade 
meeting  of  the  teachers  of  a  certain  supervisory  unit, 
there  will  be  meetings  of  teachers  by  school  buildings 
under  the  principal.  These  may  also  be  grade  meet- 
ings, but  the  unifying  principle  is  the  supervisory  re- 
sponsibility of  a  principal. 

The  principal  may  call  a  supervisor,  an  assistant 
superintendent,  or  the  superintendent  to  attend  the 
meeting  for  the  purpose  of  elucidation,  but  in  every 
case  the  principal  must  remain  in  the  meeting,  must 
assume  responsibility  for  the  directions  delivered,  and 
must  be  given  the  authority  to  hold  the  teachers  re- 
sponsible to  himself  directly.  This  magnifies  the 
office  of  the  principal,  of  course,  but  not  unduly.  It  is 
rather  a  return  to  the  primary  and  original  dignity  of 
the  office. 

The  superintendencey  must  be  able  to  maintain  its 
dignity  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  its  vision, 
and  through  the  inherent  excellence  and  power  of  ap- 
peal of  its  suggestions.  No  statesman  in  the  world 
needs  larger  skill  and  power  of  diplomacy  than  a  school 
superintendent  needs  in  reaching  his  teachers  through 
the  principals  and  supervisors. 


112  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

The  delimitation  of  the  principal  as  supervisor 
should  be  clearly  made  and  continually  kept  in  mind. 
Of  necessity,  the  principal  has  many  administrative 
duties.  Of  them  it  is  no  part  of  this  discussion  to  treat. 
The  principal  as  supervisor  alone  belongs  to  this  field. 
For  the  proper  performance  of  the  supervisory  duties, 
the  principal  must  be  freed  from  all  clerical  work. 
Very  little  of  the  desk  v^^ork  vi^hich  now  takes  so  much 
time  of  principals  counts  for  supervision.  It  is  purely 
administrative.  Clerical  and  stenographic  assistants 
are  the  right  way  to  release  the  principal  so  he  may 
become  the  right  kind  of  a  supervisor. 

He  needs  large  training  and  preparation  in  theory 
and  practice  of  education  for  supervision,  and  here  is 
meant  not  administrative  experience  solely,  but  real 
professional  preparation  and  practice  in  supervision, 
perhaps  in  postgraduate  schools  and  courses.  The 
principal  who  has  not  done  that  or  who  is  not  willing 
to  do  that  is  making  the  tacit  admission  that  he  has 
not  conceived  the  possibilities  nor  the  responsibilities 
of  the  supervisory  part  of  the  principalship. 

With  time  at  his  command,  the  principal  must  visit 
the  classrooms  of  all  his  teachers,  and  must  be  sure 
to  vary  the  times  of  his  visits  so  as  to  see  all  the  sub- 
jects taught.  He  must  commend  the  teachers  who  are 
doing  good  work  by  the  integration  of  their  genius  and 
enthusiasm  into  the  suggestions,  plans  and  directions 
of  the  superintendent,  supervisor  and  of  the  principal 
himself.  He  must  make  suggestions  of  improvement 
for  the  work  that  is  not  satisfactory,  or  he  may  ask 
questions  about  procedures  that  will  lead  the  teacher 
herself  to  see  and  to  work  out  the  correction.  He  must 
stop  waste  of  time,  of  effort  and  of  school  property. 

Then  he  must  be  responsible  to  the  superintendent 
for  the  final  judgment  on  the  worth  of  the  work  of  his 


EXCELLENCES  OR  DEFECTS  113 

teachers.  If  he  is  in  doubt,  he  may  call  in  the  super- 
visor of  a  special  subject  or  the  superintendent  to  con- 
firm or  to  correct  his  judgment.  Any  special  excel- 
lences or  defects  discovered  by  the  supervisors  of  the 
special  subjects  should  be  reported  to  the  principal, 
so  that  he  may  make  the  necessary  addition  or  subtrac- 
tion in  evaluating  the  teacher's  vi^ork.  From  the  prin- 
cipal's evaluation  or  decision  the  teacher  has  the  right 
of  appeal  to  the  superintendent. 

The  sole  justification  for  this  plan  of  distribution 
of  supervisory  authority  is  the  fact  that  principal  and 
teacher  can  have  frequent  conferences  both  before 
supervisory  visits  and  after  supervisory  visits,  and  in 
any  special  emergency  that  may  arise.  That  principal 
is  in  a  very  disagreeable  position  w^ho  must  say,  "Do 
it  this  way  until  the  supervisor  comes  and  then  ask 
him."  The  direction  of  the  principal  should  be  the 
teacher's  chart.  If  the  principal  feels  the  need  of 
submission  of  the  matter,  he  may  quite  properly  refer 
the  matter  to  the  supervisor  or  superintendent,  and 
then  modify  his  suggestion  if  necessary. 

The  difference  between  these  two  ways  of  getting 
a  question  settled  is  more  than  a  difference  of  order 
in  the  sequence  of  reference.  The  principal  should  be 
fitted  to  answer  the  question  as  supervisor  or  super- 
intendent will  answer  it,  because  he  knows  their 
thought  in  the  matter;  he  is  intelligent  about  their 
desires  and  hopes.  There  is  mutuality  in  aims,  plans, 
and  hopes  and  there  is  unanimity,  harmony  and  ac- 
cordance in  their  directions. 

This  makes  the  teacher  satisfied  to  do  as  directed, 
makes  the  principal  strong  in  his  realization  that  he  is 
attaining  the  joint  aims  of  superintendent  and  super- 


114  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

visors  and  makes  the  superintendent  realize  that  the 
system  is  working  pleasantly  and  smoothly.  Repres- 
sion of  the  originality  and  individuality  of  the  prin- 
cipal are  real  dangers;  the  conferences  afford  the 
principal  all  the  chance  he  needs  to  get  his  ideas  con- 
sidered and  included  in  the  plans  and  directions. 

The  development  of  school  systems  brings  with  it 
the  several  stages  through  which  supervision  has 
passed  in  many  places  or  through  which  it  is  now 
passing  in  many  other  places.  Everything  started 
from  the  one-teacher  school.  Then  came  a  teaching 
principal ;  next  came  a  supervisory  principal ;  finally, 
a  superintendent   and   supervising  principals. 

From  this  point  all  varieties  of  development  have 
followed.  The  analysis  of  responsibilities  has  every- 
where made  the  superintendent  responsible  for  origi- 
nation, direction,  and  for  final  decisions.  The  office 
carries  large  responsibilities,  and  needs  to  be  relieved 
from  much  of  the  routine  of  administration  just  as 
does  that  of  principal  to  be  free  to  discharge  its  super- 
visory obligations,  namely,  the  direction  and  inspira- 
tion of  supervisors  and  principles  to  become  hopeful, 
enthusiastic  leaders  of  the  battalion  divisions  and 
groups. 

The  superintendent  who  measures  his  results  in 
terms  of  number  of  teachers  visited  has  not  seen  the 
vision  of  the  possibility  of  inspiration  and  invigoration 
communicated  to  teachers  by  torch-bearers  who  have 
kindled  their  torches  at  the  altar  fires. 

II.  Distribution  of  Time  for  Supervision.  Use 
of  time  for  supervision  of  instruction  raises  two  diffi- 
cult questions:    How  frequently  should  a  teacher  be 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  TIME  115 

visited?  What  should  be  the  length  of  the  visit?  After 
these  two  questions  have  been  answered  a  third  ques- 
tion arises,  namely,  should  there  be  a  schedule  of 
supervisory  visits  so  that  the  teacher  may  know  when 
the  supervisor  is  coming  and  make  the  necessary  shifts 
in  the  program?  Investigation  discloses  that  super- 
intendents everywhere  have  an  established  opinion  and 
routine  in  these  adjustments  as  to  time,  but  they  vary 
greatly  in  different  systems  of  schools. 

Supervision  like  instruction  should  be  regular,  a 
supervisory  visit  once  so  often.  Partly  because  the 
week  seems  a  natural  alternation  of  our  work-rest 
cycle,  we  have  gotten  to  arrange  supervisory  visits 
once  a  week  or  once  in  two  weeks.  Cost  of  supervision 
has  been  a  force  which  tends  to  reduce  the  frequency 
of  supervisory  visits,  which  is  another  reason  why  the 
principal  should  be  the  chief  supervisory  officer  in  di- 
rect contact  with  the  teacher.  His  supervisory  visit 
entails  no  loss  of  school  hours  in  travelling  streets  or 
riding  in  cars. 

Just  what  frequency  would  be  best  theoretically  we 
can  not  tell  because  no  one  has  really  studied  the  ques- 
tion. About  all  we  know  is  that  teachers  do  not  care 
to  have  the  visits  too  frequent,  say  daily  or  semi- 
weekly.  Perhaps  we  shall  find  when  we  study  the 
matter  carefully  that  frequency  depends  on  the  temper 
of  the  supervisor,  of  the  teacher,  and  also  on  the  na- 
ture of  the  study  or  work  to  be  supervised,  that  is  on 
whether  the  unit  of  work  (say  the  topic)  changes  as 
frequently  as  weekly. 

The  length  of  the  supervisory  visit  is  also  a  matter 
of  importance.  Generally  the  supervisory  visit  should 
be  as  long  as  a  class  period  so  as  to  see  an  entire  lesson 


116  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

through  or  so  as  to  start  a  unit  of  work  which  may  be 
reviewed  at  the  next  visit.  The  rule  for  special  super- 
visors or  teachers  of  subjects  like  music,  drawing  or 
writing,  is  that  the  visit  should  be  long  enough  to  start 
a  new  phase  or  exercise  or  to  watch  the  teacher  start  it, 
so  as  to  commend  the  right  kind  of  start  or  to  suggest 
correction  if  needed.  The  start  of  a  new  exercise  or 
of  a  new  procedure,  let  us  say  in  singing,  may  take 
ten  minutes  or  it  may  take  twenty  minutes ;  whatever 
it  takes  on  the  average  must  be  the  length  of  the  super- 
visory visit. 

The  arrangement  of  the  schedule  of  visits  of  super- 
visors in  any  system  employing  more  than  one  super- 
visor is  very  important,  so  important  indeed  that  it 
must  be  made  by  the  superintendent.  Visits  to  any 
school  or  room  of  two  different  supervisors  on  the  same 
day  are  mischievous.  If  the  supervisors  arrange  their 
own  schedules  there  is  the  possibility  of  choice  of 
schools  near  trains  and  trolleys  at  the  close  of  the  day 
for  several  supervisors,  to  mention  but  one  difficulty. 

The  schedule  of  visits  of  the  supervisors  should  be 
given  to  all  the  supervisors  and  to  all  the  principals, 
and  should  be  knowni  to  the  teachers  so  as  to  arrange 
the  program  of  work  on  any  given  day  to  bring  the 
special  subject  at  the  hour  when  the  special  supervisor 
is  to  be  in  her  room.  A  weekly  visit  by  each  of  three 
or  four  supervisors  would  be  manifestly  unwise.  That 
is  too  much  supervision,  since  it  means  a  daily  re- 
arrangement of  program  for  the  teacher.  A  super- 
visory visit  once  every  third  or  fourth  day  has  in  prac- 
tice been  found  only  very  slightly  annoying  to  a  few 
teachers  and  not  at  all  annoying  to  many  teachers. 


PROGRAM  FOR  VISITING  117 

The  opinion  of  superintendent  and  supervisors  in 
any  system  must  also  be  considered.  Usually  every 
supervisor  is  sure  that  his  special  subject  or  field  is 
most  important  and  most  difl[icult  to  handle,  and  there- 
fore needs  most  time  and  most  visits,  so  that  the  super- 
intendent finds  it  necessary  to  intervene,  make  the  pro- 
gram of  supervisory  visits  and  decide  the  matter  even 
if  one  or  another  of  the  supervisors  is  displeased  and 
disappointed.  A  miniature  program  of  this  kind  may 
help  to  make  the  matter  clear. 

Dates  of  Visits  by  Supervisors. 
No.  of  Vocal  Physical 

School — Rooms     Writing         Drawing         Music         Training 

Heddon         18        Jan.  14        Jan.  21        Jan.  28  Feb.  4 

and  15         and  22         and  29  and  5 

Simmon         24        Jan.  16, 17,  Jan.  28,  29,  Feb.  4,  5,  Feb.  11,  12 

and  18         and  30         and  6  and   13 

Nye 2*       Jan.  18        Jan.  30        Feb.  6  Feb.  13 

This  is  allowing  eight  or  nine  visits  per  day  per 
supervisor.  If  time  for  conference  of  the  supervisor 
with  the  teacher  after  the  lesson  is  to  be  allowed  there 
should  not  be  over  seven  visits  per  day  scheduled  for 
any  supenisor.  If  possible  to  secure,  the  supervisor 
of  drawing  should  be  allowed  more  time  so  that  prepa- 
ration of  class  and  of  materials  for  use  in  the  class 
period  be  not  always  stolen  from  the  preceding  reci- 
tation. 

This  prepared  schedule  makes  it  possible  to  appor- 
tion the  loss  of  time  by  holidays,  vacations  and  to  keep 


*lne  small  Nye  school  is  put  on  the  schedule  for  the  last 
of  the  three  days  given  ■^o  the  large  Simmon  school,  because 
proximity  of  the  two  buildings  permits  this  economical  use  of 
the  supervisors'  time. 


118  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

the  work  going  smoothly  all  the  time.  Without  this 
schedule,  neither  supervisors  nor  teachers  know  what 
to  do  or  what  to  expect  after  an  unexpected  break  in 
the  work,  as  after  a  quarantine. 

Some  superintendents  make  the  schedule  for  the 
entire  year,  but  that  deprives  the  plan  of  the  needed 
flexibility.  Loss  once  incurred  can  not  be  retrieved. 
A  monthly  preparation  and  distribution  of  the  sched- 
ule affords  the  maximum  of  advantage ;  losses  incurred 
any  month  can  be  made  up  the  next  month.  Instances 
are  known  by  which  a  given  school  missed  its  super- 
visory visit  in  music  for  three  months  because  it  hap- 
pened that  on  the  days  when  the  supervisor  of  music 
was  to  come  the  school  was  closed  either  by  a  local 
quarantine,  very  stormy  weather  or  because  of  illness 
of  the  teacher. 

Whether  the  superintendent  should  schedule  his 
visits  to  teachers  will  perhaps  seem  a  foolish  query  to 
ask.  If  the  superintendent  wishes  to  make  sure  that  he 
shall  enjoy  the  supervisory  visits,  he  will  go  to  see 
none  but  good  teachers,  and  he  will  be  entirely  safe  tc 
let  them  know  he  is  coming.  If  he  wishes  to  get  a  quick 
view  of  a  large  part  of  the  system  he  will  pay  brief 
unannounced  visits  to  a  large  number  of  teachers. 
If  he  wants  to  help  a  teacher  who  needs  help,  and  who 
has  had  the  benefit  of  help  from  principal  and  special 
supervisor,  then  it  will  be  a  great  kindness  to  the 
teacher  to  tell  her  he  is  coming  to  help. 

The  unannounced  visit  of  the  superintendent  has 
been  regarded  as  the  height  of  supervisory  skill. 
Hence,  it  may  be  dangerous  to  question  the  wisdom,  the 
propriety  or  the  ethics  of  the  custom.    Undeniably  it 


UNANNOUNCED  VISITS  119 

is  justified  for  teachers  who  are  known  slackers  in 
their  work,  and  who  can  be  kept  up  to  their  best  effort 
by  the  expectation  that  the  superintendent  may  come 
at  any  hour  of  any  day.  An  extreme  case  of  this  view 
was  a  superintendent  who  always  kept  his  absence 
from  home  a  profound  secret  until  after  his  return 
home  so  that  his  teachers  should  not  slack  up  during 
the  absence.  Surely  this  is  small  confidence  in  teach- 
ers ;  the  superintendent  confesses  that  he  has  not  done 
more  than  develop  eye-service,  that  is,  service  only 
under  espionage. 

If  this  is  a  reflection  on  the  teachers,  as  is  most 
likely  the  case,  it  is  a  condemnation  of  the  superin- 
tendent himself.  He  may  be  a  fine  mechanician  but 
he  is  not  a  supervisor  who  inspires  honest  effort  or  who 
invigorates  sincerity  of  purpose  to  do  faithful  work. 
If  the  teachers  can  take  it  easy  and  escape  detection, 
they  feel  they  have  been  smarter  than  he. 

The  practice  of  letting  teachers  know  that  the 
superintendent  is  coming  is  a  custom  with  many  good 
superintendents.  More  superintendents  will  adopt  it 
as  the  work  of  supervision  is  more  and  more  conceived 
from  the  professional  point  of  view.  Superintendent 
and  teacher  must  move  away  from  the  personal  con- 
sideration, and  must  move  toward  the  professional 
consideration.  Professionally  the  teacher  has  the 
right  to  know  when  the  supervsor  is  coming,  not 
merely  that  she  may  do  her  best,  but  so  that  she  shall 
feel  that  she  has  been  treated  fairly  and  honestly 
rather  than  that  she  is  held  under  suspicion  as  a  con- 
temptible slacker. 

III.  In  Large  and  Small  School  Systems.  Just  as 
every  living  organism  is  a  miniature  universe,  so  every 


120  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

school  system  is  the  exact  counterpart  of  any  other 
system.  The  needs  of  the  small  system  are  the  same 
in  kind  and  degree  and  differ  only  in  number  from  the 
needs  of  the  largest  systems.  Every  system  of  schools 
needs  supervision  of  the  instruction  just  as  it  needs 
administration  of  executive  duties. 

The  main  difference  between  the  large  and  small 
system  as  to  supervision  of  instruction  is  that  in  the 
small  system  one  person  must  discharge  manifold 
duties.  In  the  large  system  the  multiplication  and  ex- 
tent of  the  needs  in  quantity  compels  increase  in  the 
number  of  persons  needed  to  get  the  multiplied  duties 
performed.  Specialization  of  duties  becomes  possible 
and  desirable. 

The  small  system  has  perhaps  only  a  principal  who 
is  also  supervisor  and  special  instructor.  The  largest 
systems  find  it  necessary  to  have  assistant  superintend- 
ents, supervising  principals,  special  supervisors,  spe- 
cial teachers  for  each  building  for  the  several  special 
subjects.  Regardless  of  the  amount  and  extent  of  the 
increase  in  the  working  force  and  regardless  of  the  ex- 
tent of  the  specialization  in  the  instruction  and  super- 
vision, to  secure  the  maximum  benefit  from  the  super- 
vision, its  organization  must  be  in  accordance  with  the 
principles  applied  in  the  section  treating  of  organiza- 
tion of  supervision. 

Leadership  must  come  from  the  superintendent, 
must  extend  to  the  principals  and  supervisors  by  con- 
ference and  contact  with  the  superintendent,  and  must 
be  taken  to  the  teachers  by  the  principal  and  super- 
visor. In  the  small  system  the  teaching  principal 
starts  from  himself  acting  as  superintendent  and 
passes  on  the  influence  to  the  teacher,  acting  as  if  he 


LARGE  AND  SMALL  SYSTEMS  121 

were  supervisor  or  acting  in  his  capacity  as  principal. 
Directions  are  harmonious,  unified,  and  fitted  to  the  sit- 
uation. Conference  between  teacher  and  the  proper  di- 
recting official  is  easy  to  arrange  and  is  therefore  rea- 
sonably sure  to  occur.  Conference  before  and  after  su- 
pervisory visit  can  be  arranged  with  little  difficulty  and 
without  inconvenience  or  loss  of  valuable  time. 

The  only  difference  between  the  large  and  the  small 
system  is  that  in  the  large  system  it  is  a  little  difficult 
to  get  the  person  discharging  any  special  function  to 
recognize  the  fact,  and  in  the  small  system  it  is  difficult 
to  get  the  person  to  realize  the  importance  of  each  of 
the  many  different  functions  he  performs.  The  prin- 
ciple is  easy  to  apply  after  it  has  been  clearly  con- 
ceived, and  there  should  be  no  perplexity  connected 
with  determining  the  duties  and  no  complications  in 
determining  the  responsibility  of  any  official  in  either 
a  large  or  small  system. 

IV.  The  G7'ade  Teachers'  Meeting.  The  course  of 
study  or  the  hand-book  of  a  school  system  shows  the 
teacher  what  is  to  be  done.  Grade  by  grade,  the  school 
subjects  are  allotted  for  the  children  to  learn,  such  and 
such  parts  each  year.  As  a  general  plan  this  is  very 
good.  One  difficult  question  presents  itself  to  the 
teacher  who  is  new  in  a  system:  "When  is  she  to  be- 
come familiar  with  all  the  subjects  that  she  must 
teach?"  Also,  if  the  course  is  not  swiftly  to  get  out 
of  touch  with  the  changes  in  circumstances  in  the 
world,  how  are  the  new  phases  of  subjects  to  be  gotten 
into  the  instruction?  Also,  if  the  school  practices  are 
not  to  fall  into  a  paralyzing  routine,  how  shall  plans 
for  timely  changes  or  introductions  or  substitutions  be 
laid  before  the  teachers?    The  system  is  under  obliga- 


122  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

tion  to  make  the  chances  of  all  the  children  equal,  hence 
it  may  not  follow  the  best  practices  at  some  schools 
and  outworn  and  decadent  practices  in  other  schools. 
All  the  children  must  have  the  best.  For  the  reasons 
indicated  and  for  many  others,  it  becomes  necessary 
for  the  superintendent  and  the  supervisors  to  meet  the 
teachers.  When  is  the  best  time  to  hold  such  meetings? 
What  is  the  best  use  of  time  for  them  ?  For  most  pur- 
poses the  grade  group  meeting  is  best.  It  may  be  the 
teachers  of  a  building,  or  of  a  number  of  buildings  in 
the  same  section  of  the  city  or  district.  If  assembled 
by  grade  groups,  as  two  adjoining  grades,  let  us  say 
first  and  second  grade,  both  superintendent  and  all 
the  supervisors  can  pass  from  group  to  group  in  alter- 
nation, give  brief  explanations  which  apply  equally  to 
both  grades,  and  accomplish  much  in  little  time.  The 
more  supervisors,  the  more  grade  groups  can  be  con- 
ducted at  the  same  time.  Thus  four  supervisors  and 
a  superintendent  can  conduct  five  grade  groups  at  the 
same  time,  and  each  supervisor  meet  and  instruct  each 
grade  group  all  in  a  forenoon.  If  the  entire  body  of 
teachers  is  too  large  for  such  a  meeting,  the  same  kind 
of  meeting  can  be  held  at  several  centers  on  successive 
half-days.  This  imposes  multiplication  of  labor  for 
the  supervisors,  since  they  must  go  over  the  same  in- 
structions for  each  grade  group  at  each  center.  If 
groups  of  teachers  become  much  larger  than  thirty, 
the  best  results  will  follow  from  meetings  at  centers 
which  make  a  twenty  or  thirty  teacher  group  possible. 
In  the  very  large  groups  teachers  will  not  talk  freely 
and  informally.  Such  meetings  will  be  necessary  about 
once  a  month  if  as  short  as  thirty  minutes.  An  occa- 
sional general  meeting  with  a  leading  address  by  a 
prominent  citizen,  will  be  a  most  pleasing  variation. 


GENERAL  MEETINGS  123 

The  justification  for  these  meetings  is  the  fact  that 
the  children's  chances  are  to  be  equal.  Any  child  in 
the  system  is  to  have  as  good  a  chance  as  every  other 
so  far  as  the  schools  can  attain  such  ideal  justice.  That 
all  the  teachers  have  the  same  directions,  are  given  the 
same  helps,  the  same  contacts  with  stimulating  forces, 
requires  these  meetings.  Finally  the  child  gets  the 
benefit.  Effort  in  learning  is  made  successful  and  time 
required  for  learning  is  reduced  to  the  minimum  by 
reason  of  these  meetings.  To  make  it  possible  for  the 
child  to  learn  more  in  less  time  is  to  extend  his  period 
of  usefulness  in  the  world. 

What  shall  be  the  nature  of  the  grade  meeting  of 
teachers  for  supervisory  purposes?  Let  there  be  no 
confusion  of  the  grade  meeting  with  the  teachers' 
institute  or  convention.  Each  of  these  has  a  function 
and  an  opportunity  which  the  grade  meeting  can  not 
usurp,  just  as  the  grade  meeting  has  a  duty  which 
neither  of  the  others  can  afford  opportunity  to  dis- 
charge. In  the  order  of  importance  the  duties  of  the 
grade  meeting  are  these: 

1.  To  secure  statement  of  teachers'  difficulties  either  in  the 
month  just  passed  or  expected  in  the  month  just  opening.  If 
written  and  handed  in,  these  questions  can  easily  be  made  the 
most  valuable  part  of  the  meeting. 

2.  Calling  on  teachers  who  are  known  to  have  successfully 
handled  any  difficulties  raised  for  their  answers  to  the  ques- 
tions. This  brings  to  each  teacher  the  combined  resources  of 
the  group,  which  is  a  wealth  of  resource  much  greater  than 
that  of  any  superintendent  or  supervisor.  What  a  loss  to  a 
system  to  leave  this  wealth  of  resource  entirely  untapped?  If 
these  two  phases  of  the  meeting  be  fully  matured  and  realized, 
every  teacher  will  come  gladly  and  will  go  away  helped  and 
strengthened.    Why  shall  one  teacher  despair  when  other  teach- 


124  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

ers  are  succeeding?  Suggestions  from  the  superintendent  or 
supervisor  are  accepted  and  regarded  as  matters  of  course.  It 
is  expected  that  they  should  know  more  than  a  teacher.  But 
when  another  teacher  contributes  the  new  or  helpful  sugges- 
tion, how  much  more  stimulating  to  the  ambition  of  all  the 
other  teachers:  "If  Miss  Smith  can  do  that  thing,  why  should 
not  I  be  able  to  do  it?" 

3.  Demonstration  lessons  by  members  of  the  group. 

4.  Reports  of  visits  to  other  successful  teachers. 

5.  Directions  and  suggestions  by  the  superintendent  or  the 
supervisor  for  the  next  month's  work. 

6.  Topics  for  the  next  month's  meeting  handed  in  by  the 
teachers  and  these  topics  assigned  to  teachers  for  discussion 
at  the  next  meeting. 

The  superintendent  will  do  well  to  make  the  grade 
teachers'  meeting  a  round  table  discussion  of  existing 
dilRculties  within  the  system.  It  should  not  be  a  nor- 
mal school  or  college  or  university  class.  The  grade 
meeting  is  to  open  the  road,  remove  the  obstructions, 
level  up  the  unevenness  so  the  learning  process  may 
travel  smoothly  in  the  car  of  progressive  success. 

Of  a  thirty  minute  program,  ten  minutes  should 
suffice  for  the  directions  and  suggestions  for  two  ad- 
joining grades  by  any  one  supervisor.  The  other 
twenty  minutes  should  be  given  to  questions  and 
answers  by  the  teachers,  and  this  much  time  will  be 
always  and  easily  consumed  after  the  meetings  have 
actually  started.  A  first  or  second  meeting  of  this 
kind  may  lag  unless  the  supervisor  has  prepared  ques- 
tions for  consideration  if  the  teachers  should  ask  none. 
After  a  first  experience,  there  will  be  questions  enough, 
and  the  greatest  astonishment  will  come  to  teachers 
and  supervisors  at  the  philosophy,  the  wisdom  and  the 
resources  of  the  grade  group  of  teachers. 


GRADE  TEACHERS'  MEETING  125 

The  grade  teachers'  meeting  has  proved  a  sore  per- 
plexity to  many  superintendents.  The  need  for  the 
meeting,  and  just  what  the  meeting  should  accomplish, 
were  clearly  enough  seen,  but  how  to  manage  the  meet- 
ing so  that  the  desired  results  should  be  certainly  se- 
cured, has  not  always  been  an  easy  matter. 

Should  it  be  conducted  like  a  lecture,  with  the  su- 
perintendent or  the  special  supervisor  acting  as  a  nor- 
mal-school or  college  professor  ?  Shall  it  be  a  lecturer 
or  instructor  from  the  outside?  Shall  it  be  a  demon- 
stration of  actual  school  work  by  a  successful  teacher 
with  a  class  of  her  pupils?  Or  shall  it  be  any  one  of 
a  variety  of  things  besides  those  already  mentioned? 
All  of  these  ways  of  running  such  meetings  have  been 
tried,  and  with  some  degree  of  success,  too. 

If  we  should  reflect  on  the  purpose  of  the  grade 
teachers'  meeting,  we  would  probably  find  the  prin- 
ciple or  principles  which  should  control  the  choice  of 
exercises  and  the  make-up  of  the  programs.  The  grade 
teachers'  meeting  should  not  be  an  extension  class, 
although  it  may  quite  properly  be  a  continuation  class. 
Teachers'  institutes,  summer  schools,  extension  courses 
and  even  correspondence  courses  have  a  claim  on  the 
teacher,  and  the  school  system  acts  wisely  if  it  en- 
courages teachers  to  profit  by  these  various  opiwrtuni- 
ties  of  growth. 

The  grade  teachers'  meeting  is  manifestly  a  part 
of  the  organized  work  of  supervision  of  instruction, 
and  therefore  it  must  concern  itself  with  the  problems 
and  perplexities  of  supervision.  Unity  of  aims;  se- 
quence and  continuity  of  procedure;  adaptation  be- 
tween pupil,  subject,  and  method ;  equalization  of  op- 
portunity under  the  diversity  of  differences  of  school 


126  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

population ;  incorporation  of  the  new  ideas  of  a  chang- 
ing world  with  an  older  body  of  material;  from  this 
list  and  from  other  problems  of  supervision  within  the 
system  must  the  subjects  of  discussion  and  considera- 
tion be  drawn  for  the  grade  teachers'  meeting. 

The  topics  for  discussion  may  grow  out  of  the  ob- 
servations of  the  supervisor  or  out  of  the  experiences 
of  the  teachers.  If  the  teachers  will  ask  questions  dur- 
ing the  meeting,  or  will  propose  topics  from  time  to 
time  for  subsequent  meetings,  the  proper  end  and  aim 
of  the  meetings  are  being  attained  in  form  at  least. 
If  the  answers  to  questions  can  be  drawn  from  the 
teachers  in  the  meeting,  as  an  exchange  of  experience, 
then  the  entire  resource  of  the  group  of  teachers  be- 
comes a  joint  possession,  and  each  teacher  can  draw 
on  the  experience  of  each  other  teacher  in  the  meeting. 

Such  a  grade  meeting  capitalizes  the  separate  or 
individual  experiences  of  the  teachers  and  makes  the 
combined  capital  much  greater  than  the  mere  sum  of 
the  collective  experiences.  The  confidence  and  assur- 
ance of  each  teacher  in  the  merit  of  her  work  may  easi- 
ly become  the  assurance  and  confidence  of  all  the  teach- 
ers. Here  at  least  the  whole  is  greater  than  the  sum 
of  all  the  parts. 

Often  chapters  of  books  or  articles  from  journals 
and  magazines  may  be  used  to  help  to  give  answers 
to  questions  raised  by  the  teachers.  Demonstrations 
of  procedure  by  especially  skilful  teachers  may  be  used 
at  a  grade  meeting,  especially  if  some  new  method  or 
plan  is  to  be  illustrated,  or  if  some  perplexity  of  pro- 
cedure can  be  best  illuminated  by  a  demonstration. 


LECTURE  PLAN  MEETINGS  127 

Except  in  cases  of  speakers  from  outside  of  the 
system,  the  lecture  plan  of  grade  meeting  should  be 
avoided.  It  is  no  excuse  to  say  "If  we  do  not  get  a 
speaker  from  the  outside  our  meetings  drag."  Then 
the  acute  needs  of  the  system  are  either  not  known  or 
are  not  being  considered.  The  plan  of  a  paid  lecturer 
for  a  grade  teachers'  meeting,  except  to  start  some- 
thing new,  is  a  confession  that  superintendent,  super- 
visors and  teachers  can  not  find  nor  determie  the  im- 
mediate problems  of  the  system,  or  fear  to  undertake 
the  solution  of  their  own  problems.  No  system  of 
schools  is  without  its  definite  supervisory  problems. 
The  teachers  all  know  the  problems  which  are  related 
to  their  own  field.  They  may  not  realize  them  as  com- 
mon needs,  or  they  may  feel  too  diffident  to  ask  about 
their  perplexities.  Usually  after  the  first  meeting  or 
two  conducted  as  a  true  experience  meeting,  the  hesi- 
tation gives  place  to  a  readiness  to  ask  questions  and 
to  relate  experience  that  will  help  some  questioner. 
Discouragement  should  not  depress  after  one  or  two 
meetings  which  have  seemed  slow. 

Teachers  are  both  glad  to  help  if  they  feel  assured 
that  their  recounting  of  experience  will  be  a  real  help, 
and  they  are  also  ready  to  ask  questions  if  they  find 
the  effort  to  reply  to  their  questions  to  be  serious  and 
sincerely  prompted  by  professional  readiness  to  help. 
Fear  of  criticism  or  of  unkind  remarks  is  forgotten 
in  the  joy  of  doing  good. 

For  example,  an  appeal  for  questions  for  a  seventh 
and  eighth  grade  meeting  brought  out  the  suggestion 
that  the  teaching  of  simple  interest  was  troubling 
one  teacher.  This  was  made  the  topic  for  discussion 
at  the  next  meeting,  and  proved  interesting  to  all  the 


128  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

teachers  of  the  group,  although  only  about  five  of  the 

group  were  teachers  of  arithmetic. 

Shall  we  teach  one  method  or  more  than  one  meth- 
od? What  method  or  methods  shall  we  teach?  Shall 
the  wishes  of  the  commercial  department  of  the  high 
school  be  regarded  as  the  final  arbiter  of  which  method 
shall  be  taught?  Shall  the  method  used  by  the  banks 
be  the  only  method  taught?  These  questions  and  others 
like  them  came  from  the  teachers,  as  did  most  of  the 
answers.  The  meeting  aligned  the  simple  interest 
teaching  for  the  system  as  no  syllabus  or  outline  could 
have  done.  The  discussion  had  made  the  best  pro- 
cedure too  unmistakably  clear. 

The  problems  of  the  moment  in  any  school  system 
are  the  right  problems  to  occupy  the  time  of  the  grade 
teachers'  meeting.  There  are  always  enough  of  these 
in  any  system,  regardless  of  whether  the  system  be 
large  or  small.  If  its  owti  problems  can  be  defined  and 
considered,  the  grade  teachers'  meeting  will  be 
strengthened  and  profitable  to  the  teachers.  Evidence 
of  professional  alertness  and  of  professional  growth 
can  be  better  marked  and  measured  by  the  teacher's 
participation  and  contribution  to  the  grade  teachers' 
meeting  than  in  any  other  way.  Superintendents  soon 
discover  this  after  they  start  to  hold  the  right  kind  of 
these  meetings. 

Frequency  of  grade  teachers'  meetings  raises  a 
problem  of  more  importance  than  is  usually  ascribed 
to  it.  Once  a  month  or  twice  a  month,  which  shall  it 
be?  Is  once  a  week  permissible  or  necessary?  Dif- 
ferent systems  have  different  frequences.  Once  a 
month  is  perhaps  most  widely  prevalent.  As  often  as 
the  needs  of  the  system  demand  is  not  a  safe  rule. 


PART  TIME  MEETINGS  129 

There  should  be  some  regularity,  so  that  teachers  will 
keep  their  time  open  for  the  meetings,  and  not  make 
engagements  with  their  dentist  or  oculist  or  music 
teacher.  Attendance  of  the  grade  teachers'  meeting 
should  be  regarded  both  as  a  serious  duty  and  as  a 
precious  opportunity.  If  the  spirit  of  "freely  give 
because  freely  ye  receive,"  animates  the  meeting  and 
each  teacher,  there  will  be  no  trouble  about  the  attend- 
ance. 

Whether  to  hold  the  meetings  in  school  time  or  out 
of  school  time  is  a  very  practical  question.  Since  the 
outcome  of  the  meetings  is  greater  benefit  to  the  chil- 
dren, there  is  justification  for  the  use  of  school  time 
for  the  meetings.  Should  the  school  term  be  short,  it 
will  probably  be  objected  to  by  parents  and  board 
members  that  the  term  is  short  enough  without  mak- 
ing the  children  lose  the  time  consumed  in  grade  teach- 
ers' meetings.  Law  and  practice  are  rapidly  setting 
the  precedent  that  use  of  school  time  with  pay  for  the 
teachers  is  both  right  and  wise. 

It  is  hardly  fair  to  expect  the  teacher  to  give  her 
own  time  for  meetings  whose  avowed  purpose  is  to 
wrestle  with  problems  that  are  peculiar  to  that  system. 
A  modification  consists  of  the  use  of  part  school  time 
and  part  teachers'  time,  without  loss  of  pay  to  the 
teacher.  That  certainly  is  equitable,  since  the  teacher 
will  be  able  to  take  with  her,  if  she  wishes  to  leave  the 
system,  a  great  part  of  the  benefit  secured  from  the 
meetings.  The  meetings  capitalize  not  only  her  own 
experiences  of  difficulties,  but  give  her  also  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  experience  of  her  co-workers,  which 
subtly  and  unconsciously  vivifies  and  extends  her  own 
experiences,  as  has  already  been  said,  by  more  than 
mere  addition. 


130  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

The  grade  teachers'  meeting,  held  about  once  each 
month,  devoting  earnest  effort  to  clarify  and  to  solve 
the  problems  and  perplexities  which  arise  in  the  school- 
rooms during  the  month,  partly  at  the  expense  of  the 
board  of  directors  and  partly  at  the  expense  of  the 
teachers,  is  an  indispensable  part  of  any  school  sys- 
tem which  claims  credit  for  well  organized  supervision. 
There  is  no  substitute  for  it. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Supervision  of  Instruction  :  Growth  of  the 
Teacher  and  Supervisor. 

Much  has  been  said  and  written  as  to  the  need  of 
the  teacher  to  keep  alive  intellectually  and  to  grow 
professionally.  It  seems  to  be  generally  assumed  that 
the  supervisor  is  sure  to  do  so  without  the  constant 
admonition  of  professors  of  education.  Complacency 
of  some  supervisors  may  also  be  an  explanation ;  they 
have  reached  the  highest  position  in  the  educational 
system,  why  need  they  work  further? 

Argument  can  add  nothing  to  the  axiomatic  prop- 
osition that  it  is  just  as  necessary  for  the  supervisor 
to  keep  on  learning  and  absorbing  ideas  as  it  is  for  the 
teacher.  If  it  is  uninviting  for  the  child  to  drink  from 
a  stagnant  pool,  as  Arnold  of  Rugby  implied,  is  it  not 
just  as  uninviting  for  the  teacher  to  be  forced  to  re- 
sort to  resources  of  stale  and  out-of-date  ideas? 

The  superintendent  and  supervisor  should  keep  this 
question  ever  before  them.  Before  making  a  speech 
on  the  importance  of  growth  for  the  teacher,  the  super- 
intendent should  take  himself  into  a  corner  and  re- 
hearse the  new  ideas  which  he  himself  has  learned  or 
worked  out  during  the  last  year.  This  self-examina- 
tion would  considerably  soften  the  rigor  of  some  super- 
intendents for  growth  of  their  teachers.  It  may  be 
that  not  growing  themselves  and  dreading  stagnation 
for  their  system,  they  try  to  put  the  responsibility  for 
fresh  ideas  on  the  teacher.  If  the  system  is  to  be  a 
growing  and  developing  system,  the  supeilntendent 
and  the  supervisors  must  also  be  growing. 

131 


132  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

Many  ways  of  promoting  growth  of  teachers  have 
been  tried.  The  summer  school,  the  Saturday  course, 
even  the  correspondence  course  has  found  a  vogue. 
These  are  to  the  purpose,  even  if  not  the  best  plan.  If 
academic  growth  of  the  teacher  is  the  end  sought,  then 
these  agencies  are  the  best  available.  If  professional 
growth  is  desired,  there  is  a  better  way  than  summer 
school  and  post-graduate  courses. 

To  make  this  point  clear,  just  consider  the  differ- 
ence of  attitude  of  the  student  under  training  and  the 
teacher  at  work  in  a  schoolroom.  The  aspiring  teacher 
while  yet  a  student  studies  books,  listens  to  lectures, 
notes  recommendation  or  observes  practice  work  under 
direction.  The  ideas  taught  and  the  suggestions  made 
are  expected  to  be  accepted  by  the  students  on  author- 
ity of  the  book  or  the  lecturer.  Unconsciously  the 
learner  assumes  the  attitude  of  accepting  upon  faith 
the  practice  recommended.  Unquestioning  docility  is 
the  characteristic  attitude  of  the  teacher  under  train- 
ing" in  a  professional  school. 

The  inexperienced  learner  has  no  standards  by 
which  to  choose  the  warranted  dicta  from  the  unwar- 
ranted. He  accepts  what  he  is  told,  he  jots  it  into  his 
note  book,  and  when  he  wants  to  use  the  idea  does  not 
know  where  to  find  the  note  book.  Exceptions  to  this 
statement  exist,  of  course,  but  it  is  a  true  statement 
as  to  many  teachers  just  fresh  from  the  training 
school.  They  have  accepted  methods  and  devices  upon 
the  authority  of  the  book  or  the  instructor. 

What  is  the  contrasted  condition  when  the  teacher 
in  service  is  to  receive  further  professional  training? 
In  service,  the  teacher  prepares  her  plans  and  devises 
her  procedures  in  accordance  with  the  instructions  re- 


CONTINUATION  TRAINING  133 

ceived  in  the  preparatory  school  (if  she  can  recall  them 
or  if  she  can  find  her  note  book  or  her  textbook)  or 
with  those  given  by  the  superintendent. 

The  outcomes  serve  as  a  check  or  test  of  the  sug- 
gested plans  and  devices,  and  she  speedily  separates 
the  excellent  from  the  poor.  Value  depends  upon  re- 
sults secured.  Authority  for  a  recommendation  or 
suggestion  may  avail  to  induce  a  trial.  Successful  re- 
sults alone  establish  its  value.  This  implies  a  reserva- 
tion of  judgment,  an  open-mindedness  for  the  observa- 
tion of  results.  Disposition  and  capability  to  evaluate 
worth  of  a  suggestion  by  outcome  is  the  cardinal  dif- 
ference of  attitude  of  the  teacher  in  service. 

When  results  are  not  a  fulfillment  of  prediction  or 
of  expectation,  they  will  be  so  appraised.  According 
to  the  outcome,  the  recommended  or  suggested  pro- 
cedure must  be  modified  and  changed  to  suit  the  con- 
ditions where  use  is  to  be  made  of  the  same.  Retrial 
and  revaluation  are  necessary.  Finally  complete  adap- 
tation and  adjustment  result.  Our  teacher  has  grown 
professionally. 

The  further  growth  of  the  teacher  in  service  should 
encourage  and  cultivate  this  reserved,  open-minded 
attitude.  Does  it  not  become  immediately  apparent 
that  the  study  of  authorities  operates  against  that  state 
of  mind  ?  Hence  continuation  training  of  the  teacher, 
surely  a  fitting  name  for  the  process,  should  cultivate 
an  attitude  of  reserve,  of  readiness  and  willingness  to 
test,  to  prove,  and  to  accept  only  after  worth  has  been 
proved  by  trial.  It  can  not  be  repeated  too  often  to 
teachers  in  service,  the  authority  may  know  the  sub- 
ject being  taught  or  the  topic  being  discussed,  but  the 
authority  does  not  know  the  conditions  of  work  nor 
the  pupils  being  taught. 


134  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

Therefore  a  very  important  part  of  the  work  of  the 
teacher  in  service  is  the  adaptation  of  subject  and 
method  to  her  conditions  and  to  her  pupils.  If  this 
were  not  so  we  should  long  ago  have  had  actual  graph- 
ophones  installed  as  teachers.  Nor  does  it  matter 
whether  the  recommendation  emanates  from  an  au- 
thority who  speaks  or  from  one  who  writes.  Neither 
does  it  matter  to  the  teacher  whether  the  recommenda- 
tion to  be  tried  has  been  scientifically  or  empirically 
derived. 

Suggestion  and  recommendation  are  the  function 
of  the  authority;  interpretation  and  adaptation  are 
the  teacher's  part.  Sympathetic,  intelligent,  contem- 
plative observation,  and  quick  and  artistic  adjustment 
and  readjustment  of  the  plan  or  proposal  recommend- 
ed, must  be  a  distinctive  feature  of  the  power  devel- 
oped for  the  teacher  in  service.  The  more  clearly 
teachers  themselves  see  and  understand  this  difference, 
the  greater  will  be  the  benefits  from  continuation  train- 
ing of  the  teacher. 

Adaptation  of  plan  is  the  feature  urged.  This  is 
not  the  same  as  scientific  work  in  experimental  ped- 
agogy. Graduate  schools  of  education  claim  that  part 
of  the  field  for  themselves.  Experimental  work  in 
pedagogy  requires  control  of  conditions.  Most  teach- 
ers can  not  control  conditions,  but  must  teach  under 
conditions  as  they  find  them.  Therefore  the  actual 
teacher,  as  a  student  practitioner,  is  a  determiner  of 
validity  of  method  or  of  principle  by  the  trial  and  fail- 
ure method. 

Does  this  rob  continuation  training  of  teachers  of 
value?  Are  study  of  books,  attendance  of  pedagogical 
lectures  and  courses,  belittled  and  cheapened  and  made 
insignificant    and    worthless    by    such    a    statement? 


ADAPTATIONS  AND  READJUSTMENTS  135 

Surely  not  if  it  be  admitted  that  the  teacher  in  service 
needs  to  be  able  to  make  adaptations  and  even  must  be 
kept  capable  of  making  adaptations  and  readjustments. 

No  fixed  and  limited  stock  or  outfit  of  methods  and 
principles,  even  if  it  include  all  of  the  best  known 
methods  and  principles  on  the  day  of  graduation,  con- 
stitutes an  adequate  life  stock,  unless  there  be  pro- 
vision for  modification,  substitution,  and  even  for  addi- 
tion. 

Stagnation  has  but  one  antidote.  Growth  alone 
resists  decay.  Mechanical  continuance  of  the  same  old 
method  brings  loss  of  alertness  and  of  sprightliness  of 
mind.  Liveliness  of  fancy  and  readiness  of  conception 
may  be  preserved  by  adoption  and  adaptation  of  new 
and  of  newer  plans,  recommendations,  determinations. 
Only  a  very  few  teachers  can  be  originators.  Provi- 
dence has  fixed  that  limitation. 

All  teachers  may  be  and  most  teachers  should  be 
conscious  adopters  and  adapters  in  the  sense  here  de- 
fined. The  teacher  in  service,  finding  the  recommenda- 
tion of  a  new  device  or  procedure,  often  can  not  tell 
nor  does  it  much  matter,  whether  it  be  an  empirically 
derived  principle  or  a  scientifically  established  pro- 
cedure. She  treats  each  as  if  for  her  needs  it  must  be 
tried  and  judged  by  the  outcome  of  her  trial.  After 
each  trial  readaptation  will  be  needed  until  she  has  the 
method  or  device  shaped  to  suit  her  conditions. 

Thus  from  the  training  of  teachers  in  service  comes 
the  unexpected  justification  for  scientific  experimenta- 
tion in  methods  and  procedure.  Thus  also  we  realize 
that  scientific  experimentation  must  be  followed  by 
adaptation  in  the  schoolroom.  Teachers  in  service 
must  be  made  skillful  and  capable  adopters  and  adap- 
ters.    Empiricism  can  give  validity  to  scientifically 


136  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

determined  method.  Five  or  six  per  cent  of  investi- 
gators will  give  us  scientifically  determined  methods 
under  controlled  conditions,  and  ninety-five  per  cent 
of  practicing  teachers  will  apply  these  methods  to  con- 
ditions as  they  are,  and  thus  fix  the  worth  and  validity 
of  the  method  for  certain  conditions. 

The  reading  of  books  on  pedagogy,  the  discussion 
of  the  presentations  of  such  books  or  of  lectures  or  of 
articles,  in  teachers'  meetings  under  the  direction  of 
good  headers,  is  the  most  economical  form  of  such 
work.  It  surely  helps  teachers.  It  is  therefore  much 
used.  Some  teachers  of  every  study  group  adopt  and 
adapt  the  hints,  suggestions,  directions,  and  thereby 
increase  their  skill  and  judgment  in  adapting  newer 
methods  and  better  forms  of  procedure. 

However,  the  mere  reading  of  such  books  on  ped- 
agogy and  afterward  passing  an  examination  upon 
them  is  far  from  the  desired  adoption  and  adaptation. 
In  an  examination  the  teacher  who  passed  the  best 
examination  on  the  books  could  not  report  upon  any 
new  idea  that  the  reading  of  the  book  had  led  her  to 
try.  Not  only  could  she  not  use  the  method  which  she 
described  satisfactorily,  but  she  was  not  ready  to  de- 
cide whether  or  not  the  method  would  work  in  her 
school. 

One  candidate  out  of  a  group  of  eighteen  explained : 
"I  studied  the  book  because  it  was  required  for  certifi- 
cate renewal.  I  nearly  studied  my  eyes  out.  I  did  not 
think  we  needed  to  try  the  suggestions  unless  we  want- 
ed to  do  so."  An  extreme  case,  surely,  but  just  such 
cases  are  more  frequent  than  requirers  of  "reading 
of  two  books  on  pedagogy"  are  willing  to  admit  or 
would  feel  comfortable  to  know  about. 


ADOPTION  AND  ADAPTATION  137 

Now  as  ever,  incorporation  in  practice  is  an  entire- 
ly different  matter  from  knowing  in  theory.  Though 
long  known,  this  fact  is  easily  forgotten,  and  zeal  in 
the  acquisition  of  books  on  pedagogy  is  assumed  to  be 
the  same  as  putting  the  theory  into  practice.  Super- 
intendents charged  with  the  training  of  teachers  in 
service,  quite  frequently  assume  that  the  acquisition 
of  the  new  idea  is  sure  to  result  in  its  incorporation 
into  subsequent  practice. 

The  examination  is  not  the  test  of  adoption  and  of 
adaptation.  It  might  be  made  such  a  test.  However, 
the  practice  following  the  reading  of  the  book  should 
show  the  extent  and  degree  of  modification  of  method 
which  is  induced  by  the  reading.  If  the  reading  does 
not  induce  changes  in  practice,  it  has  been  almost  use- 
less. As  already  stated,  adoption  and  adaptation  occur 
here  and  there,  but  to  test  the  results  of  the  reading 
very  close  supervision  of  the  teacher  is  necessary. 

This  may  be  self-supervision  with  the  conscious 
effort  to  adapt,  or  it  may  be  the  work  of  the  super- 
visor with  the  teacher  under  the  feeling  of  obligation 
to  assimilate  and  adapt  the  suggestions  of  the  book  to 
her  work  or  to  be  able  to  give  a  very  good  reason  for 
not  doing  so.  It  is  not  safe  to  put  great  earnestness 
and  emphasis  upon  the  reading  of  books  in  pedagogy 
in  the  expectation  that  as  teachers  learn  what  a  book 
on  pedagogy  teaches  they  will  be  sure  to  fit  the  sugges- 
tions to  their  schools. 

Does  some  one  demand  an  example  of  the  kind  of 
study  that  does  produce  adaptation?  Fortunately  in- 
stances exist  everywhere.  The  waking  up  which  comes 
to  a  body  of  teachers  who  take  part  in  a  survey  or  in 
a  standard  test  will  perhaps  serve  as  our  example. 
Definite  procedure,  exact  valuation  of  results,  drawing 


138  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

of  graphs  for  the  particular  teacher's  group  of  pupils, 
comparing  the  graph  of  each  individual  pupil  with  that 
of  the  class,  and  thereafter  giving  to  the  respective 
groups  of  pupils  the  precise  drills  which  the  test  shows 
they  need,  this  is  work  that  opens  the  teacher's  mind, 
that  gives  her  the  attitude  of  inquiry,  and  that  leads 
to  very  definite  adaptation. 

Now  if  reports  upon  surveys  or  standard  tests  were 
to  be  found  only  in  books  on  pedagogy,  and  if  these 
books  became  the  required  books,  teachers  might  very 
easily  pass  an  examination  upon  the  reading  but  would 
be  entirely  unable  to  apply  the  specific  remedies  to 
their  pupils'  shortcomings.  Modification  of  the  teach- 
ing would  never  result  from  the  study  of  the  prescribed 
book.  Participation  in  a  single  standard  test  that  was 
made  to  compare  classes  has  transformed  the  teaching 
attitude  and  practice  of  numbers  of  teachers  who  had 
read  numbers  of  books  on  pedagogy  but  who  had  made 
no  important  change  in  their  methods  for  years. 

Every  teacher  and  every  superintendent  needs  to 
be  reading  and  studying  for  the  purpose  of  adoption 
and  adaptation.  In  the  preparatory  period  the  student 
sees,  hears,  accepts ;  in  the  teaching  period  the  teacher 
should  see  or  hear,  modify,  try;  then  modify  and  try 
again.  The  distinctive  feature  of  the  growth  of  the 
teacher  in  service  is  power  and  skill  to  modify  new 
suggestions  and  recommendations  until  they  just  fit 
her  conditions.  "That  is  not  saying  anything  new," 
someone  may  remark. 

It  may  be  what  all  think,  but  it  is  not  what  all  do. 
Scan  the  requirements  of  state  boards,  state  superin- 
tendents, city  and  county  systems,  and  notice  by  how 
many  an  examination  proficiency  in  books  on  pedagogy 
is  accepted  as  identical  with  power  and  skill  in  the  use 


PREPARATORY  STAGE  139 

of  the  ideas  of  the  books.  The  attitude  of  the  prac- 
ticing teacher  must  be  as  different  from  that  of  the 
student  teacher  as  are  the  responsibilities  and  oppor- 
tunities of  the  two  circumstances.  The  student  teacher 
must  be  receptive,  and  can  not  be  anything  else.  The 
practicing  teacher  should  be  questioningly  receptive, 
open-mindedly  docile,  sincerely  critical,  carefully  dis- 
criminative. 

In  the  preparatory  stage  the  teacher  has  no  trained 
sense  of  value  of  method,  and  accepts  upon  faith  v^hat 
is  recommended.  This  is  not  the  learner's  fault  nor 
the  professor's  sin.  It  is  just  the  fact  that  we  are  all 
born  ignorant  and  must  achieve  knowledge.  We  learn 
to  judge  finely  of  things  by  beginning  to  judge  of  them 
grossly  and  cultivating  the  power  to  judge  more  and 
more  finely  or  discriminatingly. 

The  teacher  in  service  has  a  chance  to  judge  by 
reason  of  her  daily  teaching  experience.  Training  for 
her  should  be  the  contrast  between  what  she  had  been 
doing  and  what  is  proposed  in  the  new  suggestion. 
This  contrast  should  give  rise  to  an  independent  judg- 
ment and  should  not  stop  with  an  acceptance  of  the  new 
on  faith.  In  classes  for  the  training  of  teachers  in 
service  by  reading  of  required  books  on  pedagogy,  the 
two  attitudes  may  be  made  very  clear.  If  book  absorp- 
tion is  accepted  as  satisfactory  the  examination  ques- 
tion will  be,  "What  is  the  author's  opinion?"  or  "What 
does  the  author  say?"  If  adoption  and  adaptation  are 
to  be  tested  the  question  must  be,  "How  did  you  modify 
the  author's  recommendation  to  suit  your  circum- 
stances?   What  were  the  results?" 

Growth  of  the  teacher  in  service  is  measured  in 
terms  of  increase  of  power  to  find  and  to  adapt  new 
methods,  devices,  id§as.     Now  one  entire  purpose  of 


140  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

supervision  is  to  put  the  teacher  into  possession  of  the 
best  known  to  supervisor  and  teacher  so  that  the  learn- 
ing j)rocess  for  the  child  may  be  as  short  and  as 
successful  as  possible. 

It  is  the  duty  of  supervision  to  forestall  the  teacher 
from  making  and  repeating  errors  of  practice  that 
waste  time  and  energy  for  the  child.  The  teacher 
should  not  be  permitted  to  work  out  her  skill  by  re- 
peating all  the  mistakes  which  have  already  been  dem- 
onstrated to  be  mistakes.  One  mistake  by  the  teacher 
becomes  forty  or  fifty  mistakes  if  each  pupil  makes  the 
mistake.  This  is  too  costly.  Experience  conducts  a 
very  good  school,  it  has  been  said,  but  also  a  very  slow 
school  and  a  very  costly  school. 

The  same  point  of  view  will  reappear  when  rating 
of  teachers  is  discussed,  but  there  as  here  the  power 
to  adopt  and  to  adapt  suggestions  and  recommenda- 
tions is  regarded  as  the  highest  and  most  desirable  and 
most  praiseworthy  capability  of  the  teacher,  and  this 
highest  power  the  growth  in  service  should  surely  de- 
velop. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Supervision  of  Instruction  and  the  Grading  of 
Teachers  for  Efficiency. 

It  appears  safe  to  say  that  a  difference  in  the  effec- 
tiveness of  teachers  is  everywhere  found  and  every- 
where admitted.  This  difference  in  effectiveness  is 
quite  generally  adopted  as  a  basis  for  difference  in  rate 
of  pay.  The  principle  is  as  sound  economically  and 
ethically  as  the  pay  for  piece  work  in  a  factory. 

The  questions  and  disputes  arise  over  the  way  of 
measuring  and  expressing  the  difference  in  effective- 
ness. Efficiency  scales  have  been  constructed  on  dif- 
ferences in  the  grade  of  teachers'  certificate,  according 
to  which  pay  increases  as  the  grade  of  certificate  be- 
comes higher,  on  the  supposition  that  the  more  ex- 
tensive the  knowledge  of  the  teacher  the  better  the 
instruction. 

This  form  of  expression  of  assumed  difference  is 
generally  combined  with  increase  of  remuneration  ac- 
cording to  length  of  experience.  The  second  year's 
teaching  while  holding  a  certain  kind  of  certificate  is 
paid  more  than  the  first  year's,  the  third  year's  is  paid 
more  than  the  second  year's  up  to  a  maximum  of  from 
five  to  ten  years.  This  increase  rests  on  the  supposi- 
tion that  each  added  year's  experience  increases  the 
teacher's  skill  and  power  as  an  instructor  to  such  a  de- 
gree as  to  be  worth  increased  pay.  In  school  districts 
where  frequent  visits  of  teachers  by  supervisors  or 
superintendent  are  possible,  a  third  form  of  increase  is 
usually  made  part  of  the  grading  plan. 

141 


142  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

A  table  of  excellences  or  merits  (sometimes  also 
of  demerits)  of  teaching  is  prepared.  At  each  visit  of 
the  teacher  by  the  superintendent  or  supervisor  judg- 
ments or  appraisals  of  the  teacher  on  the  items  of  the 
list  of  merits  or  demerits  are  recorded,  and  at  the  end 
of  the  year,  the  general  average  of  these  marks  or  ap- 
praisals decides  to  which  class  any  particular  teacher 
belongs. 

The  latest  and  most  positively  helpful  efficiency 
valuation  systems  all  include  each  of  the  three  differ- 
ences as  factors  of  increased  efficiency  and  therefore 
as  reasons  for  increased  salary.  Because  salary  in- 
crease is  expected  by  teachers  in  all  systems  of  schools 
as  the  teachers  become  conscious  of  their  increased 
worth  as  teachers,  and  because  boards  of  directors 
everywhere  are  willing  to  pay  the  efficient  teacher 
more,  large  school  systems  have  very  generally  adopt- 
ed some  scheme  of  regular  and  systematic  increase  of 
salary  for  teachers. 

Such  schemes  are  called  salary  schedules.  They 
are  needed  for  the  satisfaction  and  contentment  of 
teachers  and  for  the  peace  of  mind  of  the  directors 
and  the  superintendent.  They  permit  of  the  concentra- 
tion of  mind  and  energy  of  the  teacher  into  good  teach- 
ing work  rather  than  into  a  study  of  ways  and  means 
to  influence  board  and  superintendent  to  grant  a  sal- 
ary increase.  They  permit  the  superintendent  and  the 
board  to  watch  the  teacher's  work  carefully  and  analyt- 
ically by  the  table  of  merits  rather  than  to  ponder 
ways  and  means  to  keep  questions  of  salary  increase 
out  of  conversations  and  discussions. 

A  salary  schedule  administered  by  a  board  and 
superintendent  in  whom  a  corps  of  teachers  has  con- 
fidence is  conducive  to  a  contentment  and  a  concentra- 


SALARY  SCHEDULES  143 

tion  of  effort  on  the  part  of  teachers  which  can  not  be 
attained  in  any  other  way.  The  reason  for  this  peace- 
ful and  contented  condition  is  that  in  nearly  every  case 
the  estimate  of  the  teacher  herself  is  so  fair  and  accu- 
rate that  she  anticipates  the  rating  of  the  superintend- 
ent and  is  gratified  to  find  that  her  judgment  is  con- 
firmed by  the  superintendent's  judgment.  "The  criti- 
cisms given  me  during  the  visits  of  the  superitendent 
and  supervisors  prepared  me  fully  to  expect  what  I 
have  been  given,"  is  a  frequent  remark  in  groups  of 
teachers  rated  according  to  a  good  system  in  the  hands 
of  careful  and  conscientious  superintendent  and  super- 
visors. 

Differences  Due  to  Difference  of  Teacher's  Certiji- 
cate.  The  higher  the  grade  of  certificate  the  larger  the 
attainments  which  it  represents,  the  more  it  has  cost 
in  time,  in  labor  and  in  self-denial.  Combined,  these 
increments  of  knowledge  and  experience  constitute  a 
larger  capitalization  of  personality  in  the  same  person 
than  that  possessed  at  the  level  of  the  lower  grade  of 
certificate.  This  constitutes  an  ethical  and  economical 
ground  for  the  expectation  of  increased  pay. 

It  may  be  necessary  to  insist  here  that  the  argu- 
ment holds  only  "for  the  same  person."  It  is  not  nec- 
essarily true  that  A  holding  a  permanent  certificate 
is  a  more  efficient  teacher  than  B  who  holds  only  a 
temporary  or  provisional  certificate.  The  argument 
means  to  assert  this :  Both  A  and  B  will  be  improved 
as  teachers  by  more  knowledge  and  experience,  so  that 
both  will  be  better  teachers  if  the  training  is  carried 
to  the  higher  levels. 

Training  can  not  and  will  not  cancel  differences  of 
original  native  endowment.  Every  superintendent  has 
seen  teachers  with  little  training  vastly  superior  iri 


144  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

effectiveness  to  certain  other  teachers  who  had  grad- 
uated from  several  training  schools.  The  teacher  with 
poor  training  but  with  rich  natural  gifts  is  sure  to  be 
better  than  the  teacher  with  poor  natural  endowments 
who  goes  through  several  schools. 

The  demand  for  like  pay  for  like  certificate  is  there- 
fore unsound.  Because  of  this  truth  a  system  of  pay 
based  on  teachers'  certificate  alone  may  be  very  un- 
fair, and  will  almost  certainly  be  unfair  unless  cor- 
rected by  differences  in  effectiveness  as  judged  by  a 
table  of  merits. 

Differences  Due  to  Length  of  Experience.  So  long 
as  the  teacher  retains  any  plasticity  and  docility,  so 
long  continuing  experience  will  add  continuously  to 
knowledge  and  skill.  At  first  the  increase  is  marked 
and  rapid.  Opinions  differ,  but  some  observers  and 
estimators  fix  the  limit  of  appreciable  increase  at  five 
years.  Other  observers  and  students  hold  that  ten 
years  is  the  limit. 

The  matter  is  important  because  it  fixes  the  time 
or  point  at  which  the  maximum  salary  may  be  expect- 
ed and  should  be  paid.  Salary  schedules  are  not  in 
agreement,  but  five  or  six  years  for  grade  teachers 
and  six  or  seven  years  for  high  school  teachers  are 
frequent.  The  personal  equation  can  not  be  entirely 
overlooked,  but  here  too  the  grading  by  regard  for 
excellences  or  merits  permits  a  close  approximation  to 
justice  to  be  attained.  Rating  as  Class  A,  or  Class  B, 
or  Class  C,  will  be  attained  according  to  rate  of  devel- 
opment in  the  service,  and  will  be  slow  or  rapid  accord- 
ing as  the  teacher  is  rapid  or  slow  to  adopt  and  adapt 
suggestions  of  supervisors  and  superintendent. 

Teachers  themselves  are  most  frequently  impatient 
and  disappointed  at  this  point.    They  can  not  realize 


POWER  OF  INSTRUCTION  145 

that  having  taught  the  same  number  of  years  is  not  in 
itself  a  guarantee  of  equivalence  of  power  to  instruct. 
"I  have  taught  almost  as  many  years  as  Miss  G.  is  old, 
and  ye'  after  four  years  of  teaching  she  is  rated  higher 
than  1  am.  Surely  there  is  something  wrong  with  a 
rating  system  which  permits  that  to  happen;"  thus 
do  some  teachers  think  and  talk. 

Usually  the  best  reflection  for  a  superintendent  oi 
supervisor  under  such  circumstances  is  the  thought 
that  if  the  complaining  teacher  had  the  keenness  of 
mind  to  appreciate  the  real  reason  for  the  difference, 
she  would  also  have  the  keenness  of  mind  to  improve 
her  teaching  so  as  to  rise  into  the  higher  group. 

Hence  the  modification  of  the  qualifications  em- 
bodied in  kind  of  teachers'  certificate  and  length  of 
teaching  experience  by  efficiency  as  measured  in  some 
table  or  scale  is  necessary  to  reach  approximately  fair 
dealing  with  teachers. 

Now  just  what  is  meant  by  efficiency  as  a  quality 
of  the  teacher?  To  say  that  eflSciency  requires  ade- 
quate knowledge,  skill  as  an  instructor,  and  power  as 
a  disciplinarian,  is  not  definite  and  accurate  enough 
for  a  supervisory  basis  and  rating  scale.  These  large 
qualities  and  terms  must  be  separated  into  still  more 
definite  and  specific  qualities. 

Then  recognition  of  the  qualities  will  be  easy  and 
certain  for  the  judge,  and  when  delivered  to  the  teacher 
informs  her  which  qualities  are  commended  and  which 
questioned  or  condemned.  Even  if  rating  and  salary 
increase  were  not  dependent  on  this  careful  discrim- 
ination of  definite  qualities,  the  steady  improvement 
of  the  teaching  and  of  the  teacher  as  the  result  of  the 
supervisional  criticism,  demand  it.  Teaching  must  be 
not  merely  "good,"  but  must  be  "good"  because  it  pos- 


146  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

sesses  definite  qualities,  such  as  asking  good  questions 
and  eliciting  good  answers ;  it  may  not  be  condemned 
as  merely  "unsatisfactory"  unless  the  critic  points  out 
the  respect  in  which  it  is  unsatisfactory,  as  lacking 
clearness,  continuity,  or  coherence. 

Scales  of  Merit.  Each  rating  system  will  have  its 
own  items.  No  two  scales  are  ever  exactly  alike.  Some 
time  we  may  have  a  standard  scale.  Hence  each  com- 
mittee or  superintendent  will  prepare  a  scale  or  table 
to  satisfy  local  needs  or  individual  estimates  of  valua- 
ble qualities. 

The  Fourteenth  Yearbook  of  the  National  Society 
for  the  Study  of  Education  (published  by  Public  School 
Publishing  Company,  Bloomington,  Illinois,  1918),  con- 
tains in  Part  II,  Methods  for  Measuring  Teachers' 
Efficiency,  a  table  of  such  qualities  prepared  by  Profes- 
sor Arthur  Clifton  Boyce,  at  page  44,  Chapter  III, 
which  is  complete  and  detailed. 

Under  its  first  heading.  Personal  Equipment,  it  in- 
cludes fourteen  items ;  under  its  second  heading,  Social 
and  Professional  Equipment,  it  lists  twelve  items; 
under  its  third  heading.  School  Management,  it  lists 
four  items;  under  its  fourth  heading,  Technique  of 
Teaching,  it  lists  ten  items;  and  under  its  fifth  head- 
ing, it  lists  five  items.  The  entire  list  aggregates  forty- 
five  items. 

The  items  are  so  named  that  critic  and  criticised 
will  have  common  ideas  as  to  their  significance,  even 
when  there  are  differences  between  judge  and  judged 
as  to  the  quantity  or  degree  of  excellence  in  that  qual- 
ity which  the  criticised  teacher  may  possess  or  employ 
in  her  work.  To  any  one  preparing  such  a  scale,  the 
Boyce  scale  will  be  immeasurably  helpful. 


DEGREES  OF  EXCELLENCE  147 

Degrees  of  Value.  The  ascription  of  values  to  the 
qualities  or  items  in  the  chosen  list  also  raises  impor- 
tant questions.  Infinite  complexity  and  complication 
can  be  embodied  in  a  rating  scheme  at  this  very  point. 
Boyce  uses  a  scale  of  10  divided  thus: 

Excellent,  1; 
Good,  2  and  3; 
Medium,  4,  5,  6  and  7 ; 
Poor,  8  and  9 ; 
Very  Poor,  10. 

In  favor  of  many  distinctions  there  is  the  consid- 
eration that  it  is  sure  to  secure  fairer  treatment  of  the 
teacher  if  a  supervisor's  rating  is  reviewed  and  con- 
firmed by  a  superintendent.  Where  the  supervisor  or 
superintendent  interprets  his  own  marks  the  marks 
themselves  are  chiefly  reminders,  and  the  simpler  sys- 
tem of  five  degrees  or  grades  of  any  quality  is  sufficient 
for  all  ordinary  purposes.  If  more  detailed  discrim- 
ination is  to  be  useful,  brief  descriptive  or  explanatory 
notes  made  at  the  time  of  observation  are  the  wise  and 
helpful  system. 

How  determine  the  values  1  to  5  if  that  scale  be 
used?  It  may  be  done  by  calling  5,  Excellent;  4,  Good 
or  Satisfactory;  3,  Fair  or  Passable  (barely  accept- 
able) ;   2,  Unsatisfactory;    1,  Failure. 

This  series  of  terms  and  values  has  the  approval  of 
almost  universal  use.  The  supervisor  feels  that  some- 
thing valuable  has  been  accomplished  if  he  arrives  at  a 
definite  judgment  of  value  of  the  teacher's  work,  if  he 
records  the  judgment  and  transmits  it  to  her  as  her 
rating.  Even  the  teacher  who  is  rated  5,  or  excellent, 
may  be  satisfied  by  knowing  that  the  supervisor  re- 
gards her  work  excellent. 


148  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

What  of  the  teacher  whose  mark  may  be  4  (satis- 
factory) or  3  (fair)  ?  Will  she  feel  satisfied?  Will  not 
her  state  of  mind  be  disappointmnt  and  distress  be- 
cause her  mark  is  not  better?  That  will  surely  be  her 
feeling  if  she  be  ambitious  and  conscientious.  Hence 
the  mark  must  convey  a  double  significance.  It  must 
show  degree  of  shortcoming,  or  need  of  improvement. 
To  be  helpful  and  corrective  it  must  also  show  the 
means  to  be  used  to  effect  improvement.  The  second 
showing  is  just  as  necessary  and  important  as  the  first. 
If  the  4  or  3  shows  that  the  teacher  has  neglected  to  use 
suggestions  given  by  the  supervisor,  it  necessarily 
indicates  that  improvement  of  the  mark  can  be  earned 
by  a  more  sympathetic  and  intelligent  use  of  sugges- 
tions given. 

It  is  deserving  of  note  and  remark  in  passing  that 
such  a  system  of  definite  marks  and  values  puts  super- 
vision on  a  strictly  scientific  basis.  The  unit  becomes 
'use  of  suggestions.'  The  degree  and  extent  of  'use  of 
suggestions"  can  be  counted  and  measured.  "Excel- 
lent" and  "Good"  can  not  be  measured,  since  judgments 
will  vary  in  their  use.  The  "Excellent"  of  one  super- 
visor means  less  than  the  "Good"  of  some  other  super- 
visor. 

Hence  whenever  a  supervisor  is  aiming  to  make  the 
supervision  most  directly  fruitful  and  productive,  he 
will  devise  and  use  after  explanation  to  his  teachers,  a 
set  of  distinctions  like  these;  supervision  reaches  re- 
sults through  suggestions  to  teachers,  hence  need  for 
suggestions  and  disposition  to  adopt  and  to  adapt  sug- 
gestions may  very  properly  become  the  measuring  unit 
of  the  scale.  The  scale  might  then  represent  these 
forms  of  value: 


TEACHER  RATING  149 

5,  seldom  needs  any  suggestions  from  the  super- 
visor ;  often  supplies  suggestions  to  the  supervisor ; 

4,  needs  suggestions  but  always  uses  and  adapts 
them  wisely; 

3,  needs  many  suggestions,  uses  some,  but  seldom 
or  never  adapts  them  to  her  needs; 

2,  is  helpless  alone  and  must  have  suggestions  about 
everything ;  seldom  or  never  gets  any  suggestion  used. 

1,  total  failure;    continuance  impossible. 

Besides  putting  the  good  teacher  on  her  mettle, 
this  scale  permits  every  teacher  to  feel  that  her  in- 
dividuality has  a  real  chance  to  demonstrate  itself  and 
to  secure  recognition.  This  removes  one  of  the  most 
strongly  held  objections  to  supervision,  namely,  that 
it  tends  to  make  mere  imitators  out  of  teachers. 

It  is  also  unmistakably  true,  that  teachers  marked 
on  this  basis  are  surer  to  anticipate  their  marks  and 
to  feel  that  they  have  been  fairly  treated  than  if  the 
mark  be  an  estimate  of  excellence  described  by  a  word 
with  no  indication  why  that  quality  is  assigned.  No 
one  is  more  keenly  aware  than  the  teacher  herself  as 
to  just  what  has  happened  between  her  and  the  super- 
visor in  the  matter  of  giving  and  receiving  sugges- 
tions. To  get  the  5  the  teacher  must  make  her  work 
stand  out  as  something  entirely  different  and  better 
than  the  supervisor's  suggestions.  Using  suggestions 
from  the  supervisor  ever  so  skilfully  can  not  secure  the 
desired  5. 

So  long  as  all  the  originality  comes  from  the  super- 
visor, the  teacher  can  fairly  be  called  satisfactory,  but 
nothing  more,  since  it  is  the  successful  use  of  the  su- 
pervisor's suggestions  that  enables  her  to  reach  4; 
when  the  supervisor  makes  the  suggestions  it  is  be- 
cause at  that  time  the  work  is  only  3,  "needs  many 
suggestions." 


150  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

With  this  scale  fairly  applied  teachers  find  it  pos- 
sible to  evaluate  their  own  work  and  to  arrive  at  the 
same  judgment  as  the  supervisor,  certainly  to  concur 
with  the  supervisor's  marks  with  little  or  no  difference 
of  opinion. 

Getting  the  Rating  of  a  Teacher,  Definite  state- 
ment and  demonstration  of  procedure  will  enable  any 
one  to  construct  a  Rating  Scale.  Let  it  be  assumed 
that  the  scale  is  to  include  four  heads : 

I.     Personal  Qualities; 

II.  Professional  Spirit; 

III.  Teaching  Ability; 

IV.  Disciplinary  Ability. 

Each  of  these  four  heads  may  again  be  divided  into  five  sub- 
heads, so  as  to  make  it  possible  to  recognize,  evaluate  and  credit 
excellences  and  defects  very  specifically.  This  sub-division 
might  be  made  thus: 

I,     Personal  Qualities: 

1.     Voice;    2.  Punctuality;    3.  Resourcefulness;    4.  Alert- 
ness;   5.  Good  Sense. 

II.     Professional  Spirit: 

1.  Attitude  toward  pupils;  2.  Attitude  toward  community; 
3.  Interest  in  work;    4,  Co-operation;    5.  Preparation. 

III.  Teaching  Ability: 

1.  Arouses  interest;  2.  Is  logical  and  psychological;  3. 
Reaches  all  members  of  the  class;  4.  Tests  preparation;  5.  Com- 
mends effort. 

IV.  Disciplinary  Ability: 

1.  Uses  ethical  ideals  and  motives;  2.  Develops  self-control; 
3.  Uses  instruction  as  means  to  discipline;  4.  Corrects  miscon- 
duct by  commendation  of  good  conduct;  5.  Keeps  pupils  busy 
with  appropriately  related  seat  work. 

As  already  stated,  any  desired  number  of  points 
or  divisions  is  possible.  Each  rater  will  prefer  to  make 
his  own.    This  rater  would  advise  relatively  few  points. 


PAY  AND  RATING  151 

The  great  advantage  of  such  a  scheme  as  here  shown 
is  that  the  points  assume  an  equality  of  value,  and  all 
schemes  for  artificial  weighting  of  points  are  unneces- 
sary. As  yet  the  entire  procedure  is  so  crude  that  we 
may  forego  all  discussion  or  quibbling  as  to  whether 
each  of  the  subdivisions  is  equally  valuable. 

We  may  decide  that  question  some  day,  but  we  shall 
then  know  much  more  than  we  know  now  about  "scien- 
tific" rating  of  teachers. 

The  four  main  heads,  and  the  five  subdivisions  give 
us  just  twenty  items  for  valuation.  Since  the  maxi- 
mum mark  on  any  point  is  5,  the  total  mark  for  a  5 
on  each  of  the  twenty  items  will  aggregate  just  100 
points.  Since  almost  all  of  our  records  and  markings 
are  on  the  basis  of  a  100  scale,  it  will  be  of  relative 
advantage  to  have  the  rating  scale  on  that  basis  also. 
Confronted  with  the  duty  of  rating  a  teacher,  the  su- 
pervisor consults  his  notes  and  observations,  evaluates 
in  terms  of  suggestions  needed  and  used,  and  finds  it 
relatively  easy  to  ascribe  a  5  for  one  item,  a  4  for  an- 
other, a  3  for  some,  and  so  on.  When  each  item  is  thus 
marked,  the  aggregate  may  be  60  or  85  or  95. 

Classification  of  teachers  into  groups  as  A  or  B  or 
C  requires  one  more  arbitrary  step ;  the  fixing  of  the 
credits  or  points  which  shall  constitute  the  classes  or 
groups.  Class  A  might  be  fixed  as  those  teachers  who 
receive  more  than  90  points ;  Class  B  those  who  receive 
between  80  and  89 ;  Class  C  those  who  receive  between 
69  and  79.  This  supplies  suggestions  and  examples  of 
all  the  distinctions  and  diiferentiatons  of  the  usual 
Pay  and  Rating  Scales. 

Applied  to  a  Salary  Schedule  the  items  combined 
would  arrange  themselves  thus: 


152  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

Length  of  One  Year  Five  Year  Life 

Experience:  Certificate  Certificate         Certificate 

Class  C— 

One  Year  $    800  $    900  $1,000 

Two  Years 880  980  1,080 

Three  Years    960  1,060  1,160 

Etc. 

Class  B: 

One  Year $    950  $1,050  $1,150 

Two  Years 1,030  1,130  1^30 

Three  Years    1,110  1,210  1,310 

Etc. 

Class  A: 

One  Year $1,100  $1,200  $1,300 

Two  Years 1,180  1,280  1,380 

Three  Years   1,260  1,360  1,460 

Etc. 

Note. — Illustration  of  method  is  all  that  the  above  table  con- 
veys. The  differentials  are  $100  per  year  difference  between  the 
kinds  of  certificates,  $150  a  year  between  the  classes  of  teach- 
ers, and  $80  per  year  increase  for  experience.  Such  values  and 
differentials  are  in  use  in  many  places.  Obviously  information 
can  be  secured  from  any  city  using  a  Rating  Scale  by  writing 
to  the  superintendent  of  schools.  The  rapid  changes  in  teach- 
ers' salaries  since  1917  makes  any  published  scale  worthless 
within  the  year  in  which  it  is  fixed;  hence  this  hypothetical 
scale  is  as  useful  as  any  for  demonstration.  It  has  no  other 
purpose. 

Important  Considerations  About  Teacher  Rating. 
No  scale  yet  studied  by  the  writer  covers  several  im- 
portant considerations  by  so  much  as  a  reference  to 
them.  First  in  importance  is  the  necessity  to  put  be- 
fore any  teacher  but  a  single  mark  on  any  one  point. 
Even  if  a  superintendent  and  a  principal  both  mark  a 
teacher,  and  if  each  evaluates  on  identical  points,  not 
the  different  and  separate  marks  of  the  two  judges  but 
a  single  compounded  mark  should  go  before  the  teach- 
er. 


FIXED  STANDARDS  153 

The  two  or  more  judges  should  meet,  confer,  agree, 
and  record  the  mark  to  which  they  can  agree.  That 
is  the  only  mark  that  should  go  before  the  teacher 
and  to  that  mark  the  two  or  three  judges  should  then 
adhere  in  any  discussion  with  the  teacher.  To  do 
otherwise  is  to  bring  the  entire  scheme  into  disrepute. 
If  the  principal  values  the  teacher's  work  5  on  any 
point  and  the  superintendent  rates  it  4,  and  the  teacher 
is  given  both  statements,  is  not  the  arbitrariness  of  the 
marking  the  first  impression,  and  will  not  the  aware- 
ness that  it  is  an  arbitrary  mark  impair  the  teacher's 
respect  and  confidence  for  the  marks  and  the  system? 
Much  dissatisfaction  with  marking  systems  is  due  to 
our  "variable"  judgments  and  values. 

We  have  not  had  a  fixed  standard  like  "Need  and 
Use  of  Suggestions,"  and  have  tried  to  imagine  the 
best  teacher  we  ever  knew  on  a  point  as  the  standard 
for  5  for  that  point.  Not  having  had  the  same  teacher 
in  mind,  of  course,  our  standards  have  varied,  and  we 
have  forced  the  knowledge  of  the  variation  upon  the 
teachers.  It  is  worth  repeating  and  insisting  that  on 
each  item  in  a  rating  scale,  but  one  mark  should  be 
recorded  and  reportd  to  the  teacher. 

Second,  it  is  far  best  if  each  judge  or  rater  passes 
judgment  only  on  such  points  or  items  as  belong  defi- 
nitely and  specifically  to  that  judge.  The  point  can  be 
easily  made  clear  by  reference  to  the  items  which  a  spe- 
cial supervisor  evaluates.  In  the  case  of  the  supervisor 
of  writing,  rating  should  be  restricted  to  the  work  of 
the  teacher  as  it  affects  the  teaching  of  writing  in  that 
room;  similarly  with  other  supervisors;  then  there 
will  be  no  overlapping  or  contradiction  of  judgments 
and  authorities. 


154  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

Probably  there  will  be  no  disposition  to  question 
this  statement  as  to  the  special  subjects  like  vocal 
music,  drawing,  writing,  and  physical  training,  except 
some  one  may  ask,  how  is  the  principal's  or  the  super- 
intendent's judgment  to  become  effective  in  these  spe- 
cialties where  either  has  something  good  or  bad  to 
register?  Entirely  by  conference  with  the  supervisor 
and  by  modification  of  the  supervisor's  mark  if  neces- 
sary. 

How  shall  the  field  be  divided  between  the  super- 
intendent and  the  principal?  Entirely  in  accordance 
with  the  responsibility  of  each  for  the  supervision. 
The  principal  will  have  the  major  responsibility  and 
weight  in  the  matters  which  are  mainly  his  responsi- 
bility, and  the  superintendent  may  suggest  values  or 
modifications.  In  matters  like  certification  and  so  on, 
which  are  mainly  the  superintendent's  responsibility, 
the  principal  will  have  only  an  advisory  and  a  concur- 
rent weight.  In  practice  this  differentiation  is  not  dif- 
ficult, although  the  first  suggestion  for  its  need  is  not 
easy  to  accept.  Practice  and  tradition  have  so  entirely 
set  up  another  and  a  different  procedure. 

If  supervision  is  to  lead  to  a  teacher  rating  that 
shall  win  and  hold  the  respect  of  teachers,  however, 
it  must  eliminate  some  of  the  present  crudities  and 
contradictions,  like  our  arbitrary  values  and  variety  of 
opinions. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Why  Supervision  op  Instruction  Is  Necessary 

The  duties  of  every  school  superintendent  are  made 
up  of  vi^ork  which  is  purely  administrative  and  of  work 
which  is  simple  and  true  supervision  of  instruction. 
To  order  the  year's  supply  of  textbooks  is  an  admin- 
istrative duty.  To  counsel  with  a  group  of  teachers  on 
methods  and  devices  is  simple  and  true  supervision  of 
instruction. 

Many  school  boards  and  some  superintendents  are 
quite  hazy  in  their  notions  as  to  the  proper  work  of 
the  superintendent.  Administrative  duties  keep  the 
business  of  the  board  going,  hence  board  members  are 
prone  to  think  that  the  administrative  duties  are  most 
necessary.  Some  directors  have  even  been  heard  to 
ask,  "What  would  the  superintendent  do  if  he  did  not 
have  administrative  duties?  We  appoint  well-trained, 
experienced  teachers,  surely  they  can  teach  without 
much  direction  from  the  superintendent." 

By  reason  of  the  title  of  this  chapter,  administra- 
tive duties  must  be  omitted  here.  This  will  be  a  dis- 
tinct advantage.  Most  books  dealing  with  the  super- 
intendent treat  only  administrative,  that  is,  executive 
duties,  and  give  as  little  as  a  single  short  paragraph 
on  the  real  work  of  supervision  of  instruction.  That 
fact  created  the  opening  for  this  discussion  of  super- 
vision of  instruction  in  a  separate  cover. 

A  somewhat  recent  public  discussion  of  the  justi- 
fication for  supervision  was  supposed  to  have  estab- 
lished these  two  reasons  for  supervision  of  instruction. 
First,  the  board  finds  out  what  the  teachers  are  doing. 

155 


156  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

Second,  the  superintendent  secures  his  information  for 
rating  the  teachers  according  to  the  salary  schedule. 
These  two  are  neither  the  first  nor  the  most  compelling 
reasons  for  supervision  of  instruction. 

The  fact  that  a  prominent  superintendent  made  the 
statement  is  corroboration  of  the  statement  already- 
made,  namely,  that  some  superintendents  are  not  very 
clear  in  their  conceptions  of  the  true  function  of  super- 
vision of  instruction. 

For  instance,  it  is  possible  and  probable  that  no 
other  one  cause  is  productive  of  so  much  dissatisfac- 
tion on  the  part  of  teachers  as  the  "rating"  by  the 
superintendent.  Of  this  discontent  school  boards  hear 
much.  To  remove  the  cause  of  complaint  many  boards 
would  gladly  discontinue  supervision  for  rating  pur- 
poses, if  they  believed  that  its  only  advantage  was  the 
"rating"  advantage.  The  fact  of  teacher's  dissatisfac- 
tion with  rating  as  a  supervisory  function  can  not  be 
dismissed  with  the  consoling  thought  which  some 
boards  and  some  superintendents  profess  to  entertain, 
that  the  only  reasons  why  teachers  object  to  super- 
vision is  that  it  makes  them  work  harder,  that  it  makes 
them  study  to  keep  abreast  of  the  time. 

This  is  very  unfair  to  teachers  as  a  class,  even  if  it 
is  known  to  be  true  of  one  or  more  teachers.  They  do 
work  hard  and  will  work  hard  to  get  time  for  a  little 
study  if  it  becomes  evident  that  the  study  enables  them 
to  do  better  schoolroom  work. 

It  is  permissible  to  venture  the  guess  that  another 
reason  for  teachers'  dissatisfaction  with  supervision 
is  the  fact  that  supervision  of  instruction  fails  to  ac- 
complish its  chief  purpose  in  many  places,  that  is,  it 
fails  to  bring  fresh  life  and  new  vigor  to  teachers  and 
to  the  teaching.    If  most  of  a  superintendent's  time 


SUPERINTENDENT  AND  SUPERVISION  157 

must  be  given  to  administrative  duties,  and  least  of 
his  time  to  supervision  of  instruction,  supervision  of 
instruction  will  be  very  poorly  done  or  will  not  be  done 
at  all. 

The  superintendent  should  first  of  all  be  a  super- 
visor of  instruction.  If  this  supervision  requires  all 
his  time,  the  board  should  appoint  an  administrative 
assistant  superintendent  to  take  care  of  the  business 
part  of  the  work.  The  business  will  thus  get  all  the 
time  it  needs  from  an  official  who  is  directly  and  solely 
responsible  for  the  business,  and  the  superintendent 
proper  can  then  supervise  as  he  should  the  real  teach- 
ing work. 

Probably  the  first  step  toward  such  an  office  as  su- 
perintendent of  schools  was  prompted  by  the  need  for 
an  official  to  whom  a  school  board  could  delegate  ad- 
ministrative duties.  Naturally  the  oflEice  grew  as 
schools  grew  in  size.  Good  business  administrative 
ability  is  the  best  hold  many  a  superintendent  has  on 
his  board  of  directors. 

The  superintendent  does  the  business  well  and  ex- 
peditiously, gets  the  reputation  of  being  a  good  execu- 
tive officer  and  for  that  reason  has  the  confidence  of 
the  board.  For  executive  duties  this  is  both  right  and 
proper.  In  his  spare  time  such  an  administrator  is 
also  likely  to  do  very  good  supervisory  work  in  guid- 
ing and  directing  his  school  system  toward  definite 
ends  and  by  unified  and  coordinated  procedures. 

As  far  as  it  goes  that  is  good  supervision  of  in- 
struction, but  it  is  a  bare  premonition  of  the  entire 
duty  of  supervision  of  instruction.  "There  will  be  lit- 
tle need  of  supervision  if  you  appoint  none  but  thor- 
oughly trained  teachers,"  has  been  urged  in  many 
places  as  a  reason  against  the  cost  of  supervision. 


158  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

No  fact  is  more  certainly  known  to  all  good  super- 
visors than  the  fact  that  without  supervision,  the 
twenty  best  teachers  that  you  could  put  into  a  school 
building  would  not  develop  a  school  in  which  the  work 
was  unified  and  harmonized.  "Would  not  these  good 
teachers  confer  and  thus  work  out  a  single  plan?" 
some  one  asks.  Of  course  they  would,  but  that  confer- 
ence is  supervision  of  instruction.  The  losses  resulting 
from  changes  of  textbooks  which  were  formerly  so 
much  deplored  was  not  any  greater  than  are  the  losses 
to  children  through  lack  of  supervision. 

It  is  a  frequent  occurrence  in  large  city  schools  that 
children  in  the  same  grade  of  one  school  building,  a 
boy  in  one  teacher's  room  and  a  girl  in  another  teach- 
er's room,  find  themselves  in  the  home  doing  work  by 
entirely  different  plans.  In  one  such  case  the  girl 
worked  all  her  interest  problems  by  the  exact  method, 
and  the  boy  by  the  60-day  six  per  cent  method.  Both 
children  were  sure  they  were  right,  and  the  poor  father 
who  was  himself  a  professor  of  mathematics  had  a 
hard  evening's  work  reconciling  the  children's  dispute. 

Nothing  but  supervision  can  secure  unity,  use  of 
the  same  textbook  does  not  secure  it,  use  of  the  same 
course  of  study  can  not  assure  it.  Supervision  which 
directs  what  shall  be  taught,  and  follows  up  the  direc- 
tion to  see  that  it  is  carried  out  is  the  only  way  to  se- 
cure unity,  harmony,  continuity,  and  equivalence  of 
instruction  in  an  entire  system. 

Just  what  is  the  school  to  do  for  the  child  and  for 
all  the  children  of  the  school  system?  If  we  just  re- 
state these  outcomes  of  schooling  it  will  help  to  make 
clear  why  we  must  have  supervision  of  instruction. 
The  child  attends  school  so  that  he  may  become  intelli- 
gent, so  that  his  inborn  powers  may  be  developed,  so 


QUALITY  OF  INSTRUCTION  159 

that  he  may  be  trained  and  fitted  to  live  with  people 
and  to  take  part  in  that  common  or  community  life. 

Supervision  picks  the  way  of  travel  (course  of 
study),  sets  the  pace  (promotion  rates  and  stages), 
and  keeps  the  process  diligently  in  operation  to  pro- 
duce motion  or  progress  forward  (true  supervision, 
oversight,  and  guidance).  Information  should  be 
clear,  definite,  and  usable,  and  need  to  be  kept  new 
and  recent,  and  should  grow  into  power  and  desire  of 
constant  acquisition  and  correction. 

Development  of  the  pupil  must  be  studied  to  enable 
supervisor  and  teacher  to  adapt  and  to  proportion  the 
instruction  to  the  children.  The  learning  of  new  things 
of  the  schoolroom  must  become  the  habit  of  constant 
readjustment  of  knowledge  and  ideas,  so  that  the  con- 
stant changes  of  the  world  about  him  shall  not  puzzle 
and  mystify  the  child  after  he  leaves  school.  A  chang- 
ing world  calls  for  constant  readjustment  to  fit  into 
and  to  harmonize  with  the  changes. 

Every  live  and  wide-awake  man  and  woman  em- 
bodies this  principle  just  as  much  as  did  Gladstone  and 
Bismarck.  Teaching  under  modern  specialized  grades 
and  subjects  could  not  accomplish  such  a  result  at  all 
if  it  were  not  for  the  inborn  capacities  and  powers  of 
human  nature. 

Supervision  of  instruction  must  find  and  must  keep 
in  sight  the  unifying  and  harmonizing  principle  which 
the  individual  teacher  and  the  specialist  would  very 
seldom  find  and  perhaps  never  follow  if  left  entirely 
to  the  inclinations  of  their  ovm  preferences.  This 
charges  the  supervisor  with  no  mean  task. 

What  must  supervision  secure  in  "quality"  of  in- 
struction?   It  must  see  that  the  ends  stated  shall  be  . 
clearly  perceived  and  closely  followed  by  the  teachers. 


160  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

Visits  to  schoolrooms  and  conferences  with  teachers 
must  be  planned  to  see  that  the  implicit  of  the  course 
of  study  becomes  the  explicit  of  the  recitation.  All  the 
teachers  shall  know  the  desired  ends  and  shall  con- 
sciously do  their  part  toward  carrying  the  pupils  in 
their  classes  the  outlined  distance  and  degree  forward 
toward  the  end  fixed. 

The  more  schools  there  are  in  the  system,  the  more 
difficult  is  it  for  the  supervisor  to  attain  these  ends. 
If  the  future  welfare  of  child  and  community  are  con- 
sidered, it  is  much  more  important  that  these  ends  of 
instruction  be  secured  than  it  is  important  that  the 
business  affairs  of  the  system  be  economically  admin- 
istered.   Economy  in  the  business  affects  the  present. 

The  education  and  training  of  the  child  not  merely 
affects,  but  entirely  limits,  fixes,  and  conditions  that 
future  for  himself  and  modifies  it  for  all  who  come 
into  life  contact  with  him.  Which  is  not  saying  that 
carelessness  and  extravagance  are  to  be  permitted,  but 
it  is  saying  that  right  supervision  of  instruction  is 
more  important  than  good  business  administration. 
The  supervision  of  instruction  is  much  the  more  im- 
portant, although  some  directors  will  not  admit  it, 
since  they  can  and  do  hear  the  complaints  of  taxpay- 
ers, and  they  may  never  hear  the  complaints  and  la- 
ments of  the  children  who  are  now  attending  their 
poorly  supervised  schools,  complaints  and  laments  that 
their  school  opportunities  did  not  teach  and  train  for 
certain  things  which  life  requires  of  the  adult. 

"As  is  the  teacher  so  is  the  school"  is  still  true.  For 
supervision  the  maxim  may  be  stated,  "As  is  the  su- 
pervision so  is  the  teacher"  and  then  the  older  form 
of  the  statement  will  also  be  true ;  therefore,  as  is  the 
supervision,  so  is  the  school. 


UNITY  AND  COORDINATION  161 

Supervision  must  first  secure  unity  of  aim  and  pur- 
pose in  the  instruction.  Although  it  is  not  easy  of  ac- 
complishment, it  is  imperatively  necessary,  else  each 
teacher  will  have  an  individually  varied  aim  and  pur- 
pose. The  course  of  study,  bulletins,  outlines,  confer- 
ences with  teachers,  and  grade  meetings  of  teachers 
are  the  means  for  this  unification  process. 

New  teachers  coming  into  a  system  are  probably 
alone  a  sufficient  cause  to  require  supervision  or  the 
results  of  supervision  in  securing  unity  and  coordina- 
tion in  the  teaching  work  of  the  respective  grades  in 
the  different  schools  of  a  system.  Continuity  and  re- 
latedness  of  instruction  must  also  be  secured  by  super- 
vision. Frequently  the  change  of  a  textbook  in  a 
lower  grade  may  require  a  change  of  plan  and  method 
in  the  grades  following  the  grades  which  are  using  the 
new  book.  Without  careful  supervision  such  an  ad- 
justment would  be  overlooked. 

The  teachers  coming  into  a  system,  or  the  teachers 
changing  from  one  grade  to  another  within  the  sys- 
tem, need  supervision  to  observe  and  to  obey  all  the 
details  of  procedure  set  down  in  the  manual  or  in  the 
official  bulletins. 

Adaptation  of  the  instruction  to  the  age,  under- 
standing, and  to  the  developmental  interests  of  the 
child  must  also  be  secured  by  supervision.  There  are 
teachers  in  every  system,  of  course,  who  look  after 
these  matters  carefully  without  supervision.  Here  also 
the  constant  changes  in  the  corps  of  teachers  makes 
heavy  calls  upon  the  supervisor's  time  and  energy. 

Let  it  be  admitted  that  teachers  can  do  this  with- 
out supervision,  but  let  it  also  be  truthfully  stated  that 
many  of  them  never  give  the  matter  a  thought  unless 
brought  up  short  and  sharp  against  some  point  involv- 


162  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

ing  the  adaptation,  although  their  proceeding  evidences 
unmistakably  that  the  idea  of  adaptation  was  not  pres- 
ent when  the  lesson  plans  were  made  and  is  not  present 
during  the  recitation. 

The  instructional  opportunities  of  all  the  children 
in  a  school  system  should  theoretically  be  equal.  Theo- 
retical approximation  to  equality  may  be  secured  by 
good  supervision,  but  would  never  even  be  thought  of 
if  each  teacher  were  permitted  to  run  her  school  as 
seems  best  to  her. 

The  teacher  with  30  pupils  of  one  grade  finds  it 
easy  to  have  each  class  recite  in  every  major  branch  at 
least  once  each  day.  What  can  the  teacher  do  who  has 
two  or  three  or  four  grades  in  one  room?  Each  pupil 
in  her  room  is  also  entitled  to  one  recitation  each  day 
in  each  major  subject,  but  where  can  the  teacher  find 
the  time  for  it? 

This  difl^culty  has  escaped  the  discernment  of  many 
good  teachers.  They  have  done  the  best  they  could 
under  the  circumstances  and  felt  that  their  sins  would 
be  forgiven  them.  The  best  grade  teachers  aim  to 
equalize  the  time  between  the  grades.  That  is  a  recog- 
nition of  the  problem,  and  is  an  attempt  to  solve  it. 
But  even  that  is  a  very  different  thing  from  equalizing 
the  children's  chances. 

The  instruction  must  also  be  suited  to  the  subjects 
of  instruction.  A  written  arithmetic  lesson  which  calls 
only  for  figuring  exercises  may  be  literally  a  "written" 
arithmetic  lesson,  but  it  is  far  from  being  the  kind  of 
instruction  which  the  child  needs  in  the  subject. 

The  oral  explanation  of  the  figuring  process  is  a 
most  important  place  for  language  training,  training 
in  the  power  to  think  as  you  talk,  and  also  a  process 
by  which  the  solution  becomes  a  clear  unified  concep- 


EQUALIZED  OPPORTUNITIES  163 

tion  of  the  process  as  a  whole  rather  than  as  a  partial 
or  piecemeal  conception  step  by  step.  Such  regard  for 
suitability  of  method  and  of  subject  can  be  fostered  by 
supervision. 

In  the  absence  of  supervision  many  schools  have 
entirely  abandoned  explanations  or  solutions  in  arith- 
metic. In  any  system  of  schools  it  is  likely  that  here 
and  there  a  teacher  is  using  each  study  as  an  exercise 
for  training  in  several  other  branches  also,  but  if  such 
wise  use  of  opportunity  is  to  be  general  in  a  system, 
it  must  be  made  general  by  supervisory  requirement. 
Otherwise  individual  teachers  will  "do  as  they  believe 
best,"  with  regard  only  for  their  own  preferences  and 
wishes,  and  with  entirely  complacent  disregard  of 
equalized  instructionai  opportunities  of  all  the  children 
of  the  system. 

No  printed  book  or  bulletin  can  secure  this  observ- 
ance of  the  accepted  best  procedure.  Supervision, 
closely  observant  and  insistently  following  up  its  direc- 
tions with  follow-up  oversight  can  secure  the  equal 
rights  of  all  the  children  as  against  the  preferences 
or  individual  likes  of  some  teachers. 

Supervision  must  secure  economy  of  time  in  learn- 
ing, economy  of  effort,  economy  of  cost  of  equipment. 
If  each  teacher  be  permitted  to  follow  her  own  ideas, 
unimaginable  varieties  and  disparities  of  proceeding 
will  result.  Of  the  varieties  and  disparities,  but  one 
can  be  best.  This  best  supervision  must  prevail 
throughout  the  entire  system,  until  some  excellent 
teacher  works  out  a  new  "best." 

Then  again  supervision  will  disseminate  the  knowl- 
edge, reequip  all  the  teachers  of  the  system  with  the 
better,  newer  plan,  and  thus  once  more  justify  super- 
vision.    New  ideas,  plans,  and  methods  can  and  do 


164  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

spread  a  little  among  the  teachers  of  a  corps  without 
supervision,  but  the  right  kind  of  supervision  will  im- 
mediately and  quickly  spread  to  all  the  teachers  of  the 
system  anything  and  everything  new  and  better  that 
can  be  secured.  The  attainment  of  this  end  of  super- 
vision, it  should  be  positively  stated,  is  not  possible 
except  the  supervisor  has  time  for  much  visiting  of 
teachers  and  for  many  general  teachers'  meetings  and 
for  grade  conferences. 

Working  at  a  desk  in  an  office,  or  traveling  about 
among  the  schools  to  see  that  window  panes  are  all  in 
place,  and  that  book  closets  are  in  order,  will  not  secure 
economy  of  time  in  learning.  The  most  elaborate  sys- 
tem of  reports  imaginable  will  not  attain  this  end. 
Only  direct  personal  presence  in  the  schoolroom  while 
the  teacher  is  instructing,  with  the  visit  long  enough 
to  observe  a  unit  of  procedure,  can  give  the  supervisor 
a  glimpse  of  the  extent  to  which  the  teacher  is  giving 
heed  to  directions  and  requests  for  specific  methods 
and  procedures. 

Invigoration  and  inspiration  of  pupils  and  teachers 
with  hope  and  ambition  is  also  a  duty  of  supervision. 
The  teacher's  daily  admonitions  and  appeals  to  pupils 
for  their  best  efforts  can  be  powerfully  reenforced  by 
the  superintendent.  A  word,  a  nod,  a  question,  a  com- 
mendation, cost  nothing  and  take  no  time,  but  the  su- 
perintendent must  be  there  at  just  the  right  moment, 
and  that  moment  is  never  when  he  is  sitting  in  his  of- 
fice. Teachers  and  pupils  are  helped  to  a  steadier  and 
more  confident  effort. 

Instruction  must  also  be  kept  reasonably  new  and 
complete.  The  textbook  may  be  unavoidably  out  of 
date.  In  1921,  for  instance,  no  textbook  in  geography 
can  possibly  show  the  boundary  lines  of  central  Euro- 


INSTRUCTIONAL  QUALITIES  165 

pean  countries.  The  magazines  show  the  lines  as  they 
are  tentatively  fixed  from  time  to  time.  Supervision 
must  get  this  information  which  is  not  in  the  books 
before  the  children  if  it  be  gotten  there  at  all,  so  that 
the  entire  plan  and  method  of  presentation  shall  not 
be  destroyed.  If  each  teacher  fits  the  matter  into  the 
scheme  of  things  in  her  own  way,  there  will  be  as  many 
ways  as  teachers.  Only  supervision  can  make  the  ad- 
dition of  the  new  or  the  modification  of  the  old  so  as 
to  preserve  the  unity  and  balance  of  the  original  sys- 
tem. 

To  visit  teachers  often,  at  least  often  enough  to 
see  them  do  the  several  different  kinds  of  work  as- 
signed them,  and  after  such  visits  to  confer  with  them, 
is  the  only  way  in  which  a  superintendent  can  direct 
the  work  of  a  system  so  that  the  instructional  qualities 
will  be  what  they  should  be. 

No  superintendent  will  seriously  disagree  with  the 
ends  of  supervision  as  here  enumerated  and  described, 
but  how  many  superintendents  are  there  who  request 
from  their  boards  of  directors  sufficient  time  for  this 
kind  of  supervision?  No  school  system  in  which  a 
teacher  can  report  but  one  visit  of  her  supervisory  of- 
ficer during  a  school  year  has  anything  that  may  fairly 
be  called  supervision  of  instruction.  No  school  system 
has  real  supervision  if  the  superintendent  pays  even 
hundreds  of  humming  bird  visits.  Real  supervision 
confers  much  with  teachers,  always  after  visits,  often 
before  visits.  Garfield  told  us,  "Statesmanship  con- 
sists of  removing  causes  rather  than  evading  results." 
Superintendents  may  profitably  practice  the  wisdom 
contained  in  that  dictum. 

The  mention  of  the  conference  of  superintendent 
and  teacher  brings  into  prominence  for  us  what  is 
probably  the  most  conclusive  proof  that  supervision 


166  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

of  instruction  has  not  attained  proper  recognition  in 
the  work  of  superintendence.  We  have  not  yet  found 
the  right  way,  not  even  a  good  way  of  meeting  this 
need  for  conferences. 

To  hold  teacher  and  superintendent  after  school  is 
not  fair  to  either.  To  defer  the  conference  until  Sat- 
urday is  to  miss  the  vital  point  of  the  conference,  name- 
ly, its  applicability.  A  correction  that  can  wait  until 
Saturday  is  likely  to  be  regarded  as  if  it  might  about 
as  well  have  been  withheld  altogether.  The  right  prac- 
tice will  require  school  time,  and  school  time  of  both 
teacher  and  supervisor. 

How  shall  the  teacher's  class  be  cared  for?  Obvi- 
ously by  a  substitute  teacher.  Where  is  there  a  school 
system  which  has  substitute  teachers  for  this  purpose? 
Obviously,  therefore,  superintendence  has  not  insisted 
upon  the  provision  of  a  satisfactory  means  of  confer- 
ence without  loss  to  the  children  or  without  imposition 
on  teachers  and  supervisors. 

What  superintendent  is  not  aware  that  to  take 
school  time  for  such  conferences  would  immediately 
bring  the  criticism,  "They  do  that  just  to  take  it  easy. 
They  are  loafing  on  the  job."  When  real  supervision 
of  instruction  shall  be  recognized  as  it  should  be,  not 
only  will  time  for  conferences  be  allowed  in  the  sched- 
ule, and  substitute  teachers  provided,  but  our  school 
buildings  will  be  provided  with  suitable  rooms  for  such 
conferences. 

Summarized  the  obligations  of  supervision  of  in- 
struction may  be  arranged  in  this  way:  Instruction 
must  possess  unity  and  completeness,  it  must  possess 
proper  sequence,  it  must  be  suited  to  the  children  and 
to  the  branch  of  study,  it  must  give  all  the  children 
the  same  chance,  and  it  must  incorporate  the  new' with 
the  old  as  fast  as  the  new  is  also  approved. 


GUIDE  AND  INSPIRATION  167 

All  these  qualities  of  instruction  summed  up  will 
enable  the  pupil  to  assimilate  what  he  needs  in  the 
least  possible  time,  at  the  least  outlay  of  energy  and 
of  money  by  the  community.  Retardation  of  school 
children,  as  Ayres  demonstrated  some  years  ago,  is 
costing  school  districts  tens  of  thousands  of  dollars 
each  year. 

This  is  a  preventable  waste.  Supervision  of  the 
right  kind  can  prevent  it  if  combined  with  teaching 
of  the  right  kind.  The  best  obtainable  teaching  with- 
out supervision  can  not  eliminate  that  waste.  Super- 
vision of  instruction  must  therefore  assume  the  re- 
sponsibility to  equip  each  new  generation  of  children 
with  the  ideas  and  ideals  of  the  parents  in  the  least 
possible  time,  and  must  also  prepare  them  to  be  ready 
and  capable  of  readjustment  to  the  changes  that  will 
come  after  school  days  are  over. 

Only  a  very  small  percentage  of  teachers  as  teach- 
ers have  ever  caught  that  vision.  From  its  very  na- 
ture, teaching  of  children  operates  to  contract  and  to 
shorten  the  teacher's  vision.  The  child,  figuratively 
speaking,  is  with  the  teacher  only  a  day  or  two ;  how 
shall  the  teacher  become  aware  that  her  teaching  must 
be  for  life  and  not  only  for  the  ever  imminent  "pro- 
motion" examination?  It  is  the  duty  and  the  oppor- 
tunity of  supervision  to  get  the  larger  and  the  longer 
view  integrated  in  school  ideals  and  in  school  pro- 
cedures. 

Administrative  and  execuTive  proficiency  will  never 
reach  this  goal.  Supervision  of  instruction  and  con- 
ferences concerning  the  instruction  will  make  the  su- 
pervisor the  guide  and  the  inspiration  of  the  teacher 
even  as  the  teacher  is  the  guide  and  the  inspiration  of 
the  pupil. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

How  May  the  Visit  of  the  Supervisor  Be  Made 
Profitable  and  Most  Enjoyable? 

The  times  of  school  visits,  perhaps  it  should  be 
written  "of  school  visitation,"  by  the  supervisor  of 
instruction,  is  in  many  school  systems  and  by  some 
teachers  in  all  school  systems,  a  day  or  time  of  extra 
tension  and  strain .  "The  supervisor  may  not  be 
pleased  or  may  find  something  to  criticize,"  thinks  the 
teacher,  and  therefore  dreads  the  supervisor's  coming 
or  the  interview  after  the  visit. 

Many  teachers,  on  the  other  hand,  feel  that  the 
days  of  visit  by  the  supervisor  are  among  the  best  of 
the  week  or  month.  They  look  forward  pleasantly  and 
eagerly  to  the  visit.  If  they  chance  to  see  the  super- 
visor they  are  sure  to  inquire,  "Are  you  coming  to  my 
room  soon  again?"  They  look  forward  to  the  visits 
with  expectations  of  delight  and  profit.  Will  they  not 
be  given  help  and  advice  about  matters  that  have  puz- 
zled them?  Will  they  not  receive  commendation  for 
new  features  in  their  methods?  Will  not  the  super- 
visor clear  up  certain  cloudy  problems?  Will  not  the 
supervisor  have  suggestions  and  recommendations  for 
the  management  of  hard  cases  of  discipline  ?  Will  not 
the  supervisor  bring  new  ideas,  new  hope,  fresh  cour- 
age for  the  daily  round  of  difficulties?  How  may  the 
supervisor's  visits  be  made  an  unfailing  satisfaction 
and  pleasure  for  every  teacher? 

All  teachers  who  regard  the  supervisor's  visits  a 
pleasure  and  a  source  of  strength  could  easily  write 

168 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  BEGINNERS  169 

a  prescription  to  fulfill  the  conditions,  and  all  the  pre- 
scriptions would  have  common  suggestions. 

Among  the  suggestions  given  by  a  group  of  experi- 
enced teachers  to  a  group  of  beginning  teachers,  the 
following  common  suggestions  were  found.  Other  sug- 
gestions are  possible,  and  a  few  of  the  recipes  had  none 
of  these  suggestions.  Therefore,  no  claim  of  exclusive- 
ness  can  be  made  for  the  suggestions  here  presented. 
To  claim  that  would  be  folly.  Instead,  the  suggestions 
are  passed  along  in  the  hope  that  since  they  have  al- 
ready helped  some  young  and  beginning  teachers,  they 
now  find  a  larger  usefulness,  and  entirely  in  the  spirit 
of  freely  and  gladly  giving  to  others  what  has  been 
found  useful  and  helpful  to  some. 

The  teacher  ought  to  be  glad  when  the  supervisor 
comes.  Ought  is  used  advisedly  and  intentionally. 
The  school  system  is  under  obligation  to  the  present 
generation  to  fit  the  new  and  oncoming  generation 
most  directly  and  most  economically  for  its  duties  and 
responsibilities  in  the  sphere  of  adult  manhood  and 
womanhood.  Hence  instruction  must  get  to  its  goal 
at  the  least  expenditure  of  time  and  money. 

In  school  systems  where  a  large  percentage  of  the 
teachers  is  "inexperienced"  each  year,  and  where  an- 
other large  percentage  is  also  "untrained"  each  year, 
the  only  reasonable  means  of  securing  the  necessary 
economy  and  directness  is  through  the  provision  of 
careful  supervision  of  the  instruction.  The  supervisor 
is  a  fixed  fact  for  some  coming  generations ;  the  school 
inspector  can  come  only  when  the  untrained  and  in- 
experienced teacher  disappears.  Since  we  must  have 
supervision  (guidance)  of  instruction,  therefore,  it 
becomes  a  duty  of  teachers  to  be  glad  for  it,  and  the 
"ought"  should  be  that  of  a  firm  and  unfaltering  re- 


170  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

solve,  stayed  by  the  expectation  and  belief  that  super- 
vision will  lead  to  better  work  in  instruction. 

A  steady,  fixed,  and  positive  determination  to  get 
good  out  of  the  supervisor's  visits,  to  learn  from  them 
and  to  profit  by  them,  is  a  first  necessity  to  the  actual 
and  positive  enjoyment  of  them.  "I  will  overcome  my 
foolish  fear  and  nervousness  and  just  be  myself"  must 
be  resolved  and  the  resolution  lived  up  to.  It  may 
waver,  rise  and  fall  and  disappear  when  the  super- 
visor is  actually  in  the  room,  but  it  will  also  rearise 
and  stand  out  if  the  teacher  is  getting  ready  "all  the 
time"  instead  of  just  about  the  time  when  the  super- 
visor is  expected  to  come. 

For  instance,  the  teacher  who  propounds  a  teach- 
ing perplexity  to  a  supervisor,  and  who  receives  an 
appropriate  suggestion  from  the  supervisor,  will  not 
easily  think  nor  believe  that  the  supervisor's  visits 
are  to  be  dreaded  rather  than  enjoyed. 

Besides  this  moral  and  ethical  "set"  of  mind  to  en- 
joy the  supervisor's  visit,  the  teacher  should  be  sure 
to  follow  the  following  suggestions.  First,  in  a  note 
book  kept  for  the  purpose  be  sure  to  record  difficulties 
as  they  arise  in  the  instruction.  Any  hints  that  her 
own  knowledge  or  experience  suggest  should  also  be 
noted. 

During  the  supervisor's  visit,  bring  out  the  note- 
book and  refer  the  difficulties  to  him  with  a  request 
for  advice  and  help.  Your  careful  note  taking  and 
your  serious  effort  to  help  yourself,  will  impress  upon 
him  that  you  are  both  careful,  studious  and  seriously  in 
earnest.  That  impression  is  worth  very  much  to  the 
teacher. 

Also,  after  you  have  noted  the  diflficulties  and  your 
best  thought  at  the  time,  review  your  notes,  and  you 


SELF-CULTURE  AND  TRAINING  171 

will  find  your  own  mind  dwelling  upon  the  matter  and 
drawing  upon  your  experience,  your  oljservation,  and 
your  reading  for  a  further  or  for  a  completer  reply. 
This  reaction  upon  your  own  thinking  is  worth  more 
than  the  supervisor's  visit,  even  if  he  does  give  a  dif- 
ferent suggestion.  The  teacher  is  developing  strength 
and  is  laying  up  resources  of  helpfulness.  Each  of 
these  is  an  excellent  form  of  teacher  self-culture  and 
self-training. 

Second,  after  the  supervisor  makes  suggestions  in 
response  to  your  request  for  help,  adopt  and  adapt  the 
suggestions  to  your  school,  classes  and  circumstances. 
To  dismiss  the  suggestions  without  trial  shows  the 
teacher  to  be  a  mere  flatterer,  and  not  a  student  in 
search  of  better  ways  of  teaching.  That  is  what  the 
supervisor  will  unavoidably  think  if  the  recommenda- 
tions asked  for  and  given  in  good  faith  are  not  ob- 
served in  the  teacher's  subsequent  practice. 

As  mere  policy,  obsequiousness  it  will  perhaps  be 
thought,  it  is  wise  to  show  respect  for  his  recommenda- 
tions. The  young  teacher  working  under  the  guidance 
of  a  wise  supervisor  will  nearly  always  find  that  the 
practice  thus  begun  for  mere  policy  will  quickly  estab- 
lish itself  firmly  as  a  clearly  grasped  and  intelligently 
applied  principle. 

The  supervisor's  larger  knowledge  and  longer  pro- 
fessional vision  will  stand  justified  and  confirmed  by 
the  outcome.  The  teacher  who  was  but  a  short  dis- 
tance from  scoffing  will  be  converted  into  a  believer 
in  the  wisdom  and  worth  of  the  supervisor's  recom- 
mendation. The  mechanical  and  unsympathetic  super- 
visor will  be  merely  the  exception  which  proves  the 
rule. 


172  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

Third,  tell  the  supervisor  about  difficulties  which 
you  think  you  have  mastered  for  yourself  and  invite 
his  judgment  on  your  solution.    This  is  not  vainglory. 
This  is  the  teacher's  right  and  privilege.     Since  he 
can  not  see  all  of  any  teacher's  work,  and  since  the 
teacher  is  laying  bare  some  of  her  weaknesses  by  her 
work  or  by  her  requests  for  help,  therefore  the  teacher 
not  only  has  the  moral  right  but  should  feel  under  the 
necessity  to  tell  some  of  her  successes,  entirely  as  a 
way  of  securing  a  fair  and  just  judgment  of  her  work, 
and  as  an  oifset  to  the  admitted  faults  or  weaknesses. 
The  careful  record  of  such  instances,  the  modest 
and  simple  statement  of  facts,  will  stamp  the  teacher 
as  careful,  methodical,  studious  and  desirous  to  im- 
prove in  her  work.    To  be  thus  regarded  by  a  super- 
visor is  to  be  held  in  not  only  high  but  in  fine  esteem. 
Follow  your  regular  program  or  plan  of  work  when 
the  supervisor  comes.    If  he  wishes  to  see  any  special 
class  or  branch  taught,  request  will  be  made.     Be  it 
ever  so  artfully  done,  suggestion  of  a  change  from 
regular  work  impresses  the  supervisor  with  the  teach- 
er's unwillingness,  perhaps  unreadiness  to  go  on  with 
the  regular  program.     If  unreadiness,  then   unpre- 
paredness,  and  that  is  a  cardinal  sin. 

No  form  of  flattery  of  him  as  a  fine  speech-maker 
is  ever  subtle  enough  to  deceive  the  experienced  super- 
visor. He  was  once  a  teacher  under  supervision.  That 
little  subterfuge  is  quite  transparent  to  him.  The 
teacher  who  believes  and  who  acts  as  if  she  believed 
that  the  class  will  get  more  if  she  teaches  it  than  if 
he  taught  it,  is  taking  a  fine  professional  attitude.  The 
teacher  who  is  sure  that  the  children  will  be  greatly 
profited  by  the  supervisor's  speech  is  not  fooling  him 
even  if  she  is  flattering  him.    The  teacher  who  omits 


DAILY   DIFFICULTIES  173 

the  regular  grammar  lesson  and  who  calls  out  her 
Third  Reader  class  instead,  is  not  fooling  herself  nor 
the  supervisor  nor  the  children. 

If  such  dodging  must  be  resorted  to  when  he  comes, 
of  course,  the  teacher  will  be  under  a  tension  and 
strain.  If  careful  plans  are  made  for  the  daily  work, 
for  recitation  and  for  seat,  and  if  the  plans  are  faith- 
fully followed  out,  the  teacher  has  forestalled  all  fault- 
finding. Instead  of  faultfinding,  the  careful  planning 
and  the  faithful  carrying  out  of  the  plan  will  evoke 
and  will  be  sure  to  receive  praise  and  commendation, 
and  will  thus  start  kindly  thoughts  and  pleasant  ex- 
pectations from  his  visit. 

The  teacher  who  thus  thoughtfully  notes  her  diffi- 
culties daily  just  as  they  occur  and  refers  them  to  the 
supervisor,  who  adapts  his  suggestions  to  her  needs, 
who  reports  her  own  successes  as  well  as  her  failures, 
who  plans  her  work  and  works  her  plan,  determined  to 
teach  every  lesson  as  if  it  were  to  be  taught  under  the 
observation  of  the  supervisor,  will  be  sure  to  enjoy 
her  work  most  when  the  supervisor  comes  to  render 
an  opinion ;  she  will  be  sure  of  approval  of  the  excel- 
lences of  her  work. 

From  that  experience  she  will  be  able  to  judge  more 
correctly  and  confidently  on  days  when  he  is  not  pres- 
ent. That  surely  will  result  in  a  substantial  increase 
in  joy  in  her  work.  Thus  diffidence,  fear,  discomfort, 
or  even  dread  of  the  supervisor's  visit,  by  determined 
and  conscientious  effort  may  be  turned  into  enjoyment 
and  pleasure  and  into  the  largest  professional  gain. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Who  Shall  Rate  the  Superintendent? 
The  rating  or  ranking  of  teachers  for  efficiency, 
as  it  is  called,  or  the  assignment  of  grades  or  values 
for  results  of  their  teaching,  has  brought  out  various 
and  diverse  opinions.  Of  all  the  questions  raised,  the 
caption  of  this  chapter  has  been  least  discussed.  This 
has  given  many  teachers  and  all  the  opponents  of  rat- 
ing schemes  or  systems  the  impression  that  there  is 
no  satisfactory  reply  to  the  question. 

Usually  the  question  is  thought  and  not  asked,  al- 
though there  can  be  no  good  reasons  why  teachers 
should  not  ask  such  a  question.  Certainly  there  are 
some  very  good  reasons  why  it  should  be  answered  if 
any  large  number  of  teachers  suppose  that  no  good 
answer  can  be  given,  and  if  they  suppose  that  to  ask 
the  question  is  at  once  to  bring  rating  plans  into  rid- 
icule. 

Superintendents  are  as  much  "rated"  and  more 
"berated"  than  teachers.  Although  teacher  rating  by 
superintendents  and  supervisors  is  a  professional  pro- 
cedure based  on  the  "rater's"  long  experience,  special 
preparation,  and  sincere  and  honest  desire  to  do  right 
and  to  deal  fairly,  the  "rating"  of  the  superintendent 
is  done  by  everybody,  often  with  malice,  mostly  in  ig- 
norance, and  without  any  special  knowledge  or  experi- 
ence in  the  matters  judged.  Not  all  superintendents 
and  supervisors  are  perfect,  none  are  infallible.  Some 
may  be  and  are  influenced  by  considerations  which  are 
not  professional,  but  entirely  personal.    This  must  be 

174 


RATING  SUPERINTENDENTS  175 

admitted,  but  the  admission  will  not  deprive  rating 
schemes  and  processes  of  all  claim  to  support  for  their 
continuance. 

Pupils  rate  the  superintendent.  They  think  his  ex- 
aminations are  too  difficult,  his  rules  are  too  strict, 
his  requirements  are  too  exacting,  when  the  rating  is 
low.  He  may  be  an  amiable  person  all  of  whose  deeds 
are  entirely  pleasing  to  the  children. 

Between  these  extremes  are  all  shades  of  modified 
opinion,  more  or  less  colored  by  repetitions  of  opinions 
gathered  from  elders  at  home  or  on  the  street,  or  some- 
times even  nearer  the  seat  of  authority.  Every  super- 
intendent knows  that  for  him  there  is  no  immunity 
from  some  kind  of  opinion  held  by  the  pupils  of  the 
system. 

Parents  rate  the  superintendent;  they  praise  or 
blame,  sometimes  one  and  sometimes  the  other,  ac- 
cording to  current  opinion,  settled  habit  or  temporary 
community  excitement.  In  about  ninety-nine  percent 
of  the  cases  these  opinions  are  based  on  half  knowl- 
edge or  on  less  than  half  knowledge.  The  equal  rights 
theory  of  democracy  is  perverted  into  a  supposition  of 
equal  knowledge  and  equal  competency,  and  judgments 
are  rendered  on  the  work  of  supervisor  and  supervision 
with  entire  disregard  for  limited  knowledge  and  lack 
of  skill  to  judge  that  kind  of  values. 

Every  superintendent  knows  he  is  being  thus  rated, 
and  accepts  the  fact  as  part  of  his  official  responsibil- 
ity. Does  not  every  day's  experience  on  the  streets  of 
his  city  confront  him  with  persons  who  have  a  griev- 
ance against  the  schools?  Does  he  not  many  times 
have  to  explain  and  justify  the  acts  of  teachers  who 
protest  against  his  rating  of  their  work  by  asking  the 
question,   "But  who  shall  rate  the  superintendent?" 


176  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

Does  he  not  know  that  he  is  being  rated  just  as 
certainly  as  are  the  teachers,  and  does  he  not  also  know 
that  usually  there  is  no  "long  preparation,  long  ex- 
perience, sincere  desire  to  do  right  and  to  deal  fairly?" 
Just  as  with  teachers,  rate  of  pay  and  continuance  in 
office  depend  on  such  rating  for  the  superintendent. 

The  newspapers  rate  the  superintendent  also.  Gen- 
erally this  is  intelligent  and  sympathetic  rating.  Often 
it  too  is  based  on  incomplete  acquaintance  with  the 
facts.  This  rating  is  public,  spread  before  all  the 
people,  all  the  children,  over  an  entire  county.  The 
teacher  never  is  subjected  to  a  rating  such  as  news- 
paper discussion  of  the  work  of  the  superintendent 
constitutes.  This  too  is  a  part  of  the  inevitable  re- 
sponsibility of  the  office,  and  every  superintendent 
knows  he  must  expect  it.  The  recollection  of  this  fact 
should  help  teachers  to  realize  that  their  own  rating 
and  grading,  which  never  becomes  public,  is  as  noth- 
ing compared  with  the  superintendent's  rating. 

The  teachers  rate  the  superintendent.  Not  always, 
of  course,  from  the  broad  and  professional  basis  that 
should  be  expected.  Sometimes  they  rate  him  from  a 
purely  personal  point  of  view,  sometimes  from  the 
particular  school  or  grade  point  of  view.  A  true  view 
and  judgment  of  the  superintendent  by  the  teacher 
should  take  into  consideration  the  entire  aim  and  pol- 
icy, the  complete  program  for  the  entire  system.  Get- 
ting this  larger  point  of  view  and  the  endeavor  to  com- 
pass and  to  assimilate  it  for  the  purpose  of  cooperation 
and  participation,  this  will  forestall  littleness  and  nar- 
rowness. A  teacher  who  does  this  will  have  individual 
opinions  about  matters,  but  her  sympathies  are  almost 
certain  to  be  friendly. 


TEACHER  AND  SUPERINTENDENT  177 

While  not  all  superintendents  judge  their  teachers 
on  clearly  professional  considerations,  it  is  certain 
that  more  superintendents  are  right  in  this  matter 
than  are  teachers ;  or  to  say  the  thing  differently,  the 
percentage  of  superintendents  who  form  professional 
estimates  of  their  teachers  is  larger  than  the  percent- 
age of  teachers  who  form  a  professional  estimate  of 
the  superintendent. 

Training,  experience,  outlook,  all  combine  to  make 
this  true.  The  fact  that  it  is  true,  however,  has  an 
important  bearing  in  this  discussion ;  the  teacher's  rat- 
ing of  superintendents  is  not  entitled  to  the  same  con- 
sideration that  could  and  would  be  accorded  it  if  the 
judgment  were  entirely  broad,  impersonal  and  de- 
tached. The  two  judgments  are  not  reciprocal,  there- 
fore can  not  cancel  each  other. 

The  board  of  directors  rate  the  superintendent; 
usually  this  rating  is  quite  unreserved,  frank,  and  en- 
tirely undisguised  by  any  diplomatic  effort.  Position, 
pay,  peace  of  mind,  esteem  of  the  community,  and  other 
values  depend  upon  it.  It  is  a  part  of  the  responsi- 
bility, and  is  so  accepted  by  the  superintendent.  Any 
and  every  phase  of  the  many  varieties  of  duties  im- 
posed by  the  office  is  subject  to  rating  by  the  board. 

Nothing  in  a  teacher  rating  scheme  can  in  any  way 
compare  with  the  board's  rating  of  the  superintendent. 
This  fact  is  urged  so  that  teachers  may  see  and  com- 
prehend how  much  pleasanter  is  their  lot  when  rated 
by  superintendent  and  supervisor  than  is  the  super- 
intendent's when  rated  by  the  board. 

"Who  shall  rate  the  superintendent?"  is  admitted- 
ly a  fair  question.  He  is  rated  by  pupils,  by  parents, 
by  the  community,  by  the  newspapers,  by  the  teachers, 
by  the  board  of  directors,  by  state  officials.    The  su- 


178  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

perintendent  too  has  not  one  but  many  persons  who 
rate  his  work.  Knowledge  of  his  work  in  many  cases 
is  very  incomplete  and  one-sided,  disposition  is  biased, 
judgment  is  given  about  matters  of  which  the  judge 
has  no  knowledge  of  values.  Teachers  rated  by  super- 
intendent, by  principal,  and  by  supervisor,  surely  can 
not  think  they  have  made  rating  of  teachers  ridiculous 
by  asking  satirically,  "But  who  shall  rate  the  superin- 
tendent?" They  can  not  avoid  the  conclusion  that 
theirs  is  the  lighter  burden.    So  it  should  be,  of  course. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

A  Few  Unsolved  Problems  of  Supervision  of 
Instruction. 

It  might  be  inferred  from  the  title  of  this  chapter 
that  the  preceding  chapters  were  regarded  as  solutions 
of  the  problems  there  discussed.  The  most  that  is 
claimed  for  those  chapters  is  that  they  do  constitute 
an  attempt  at  an  answer,  though  they  do  not  assume 
that  it  is  the  only  answer  nor  that  it  is  the  best  answer. 
Wrought  out  of  experience  and  wrought  into  print, 
they  represent  just  what  one  supervisor  has  found 
workable.  Many  plans  and  expedients  tried  are  not 
recorded  in  these  pages,  merely  that  others  may  be 
given  the  benefit  of  honest  effort  to  find  the  better  way. 
These  unsolved  problems  are  so  regarded  by  many  su- 
perintendents and  it  is  the  knowledge  of  that  fact  that 
warrants  their  statement  and  description  here. 

As  already  stated,  one  chief  obligation  of  super- 
vision is  to  keep  instruction  fresh ;  that  is,  vital.  Rou- 
tine procedure  year  after  year,  sing  song  teaching  as 
it  might  be  called,  should  not  be  tolerated  by  good  su- 
pervision. To  keep  the  instruction  fresh,  that  is,  up 
to  the  hour  as  to  facts  and  relations,  requires  that  the 
facts  and  the  relations  be  gotten  before  the  teachers 
in  advance  of  the  new  textbooks.  The  educational 
journals  all  discuss  and  present  these  matters  in  val- 
uable and  timely  articles.  If  the  teachers  subscribe 
for  these  journals  and  read  them,  the  facts  and  rela- 
tions will  at  least  be  known  to  the  teachers.  But  that 
is  a  very  different  matter  from  getting  these  matters 
taught.     The   teachers   already   know  the   textbook. 

179 


180  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

They  have  taught  it  or  another  like  it.  With  this  in- 
ertia in  favor  of  the  book  the  superintendent  must 
reckon,  for  it  is  one  of  the  constituents  of  the  difficulty 
of  getting  the  new  facts  before  the  pupils.  If  the 
teacher  is  to  get  the  facts  from  the  magazines,  how 
are  they  to  be  gotten  before  the  pupils  ?  Is  the  school 
to  subscribe  for  the  magazines,  and  make  study  and 
recitation  from  these  magazines  a  part  of  the  work 
of  the  classes?  Some  superintendents  have  been  able 
to  induce  their  boards  of  directors  to  subscribe  for 
school  magazines  for  this  purpose,  but  this  reply  is  not 
general. 

Syllabi  complementary  to  the  course  of  study  are 
another  form  of  provision  for  the  introduction  and  in- 
clusion of  anything  new  in  facts  or  methods  of  pro- 
cedure. The  mimeograph  and  other  forms  of  cheap 
and  rapid  duplication  of  copies  have  made  this  form 
available  for  small  and  for  large  systems.  But  the 
study  and  adaptations  of  these  syllabi  are  an  enor- 
mous tax  on  teachers.  If  each  supervisor  and  if  the 
general  system  all  get  out  syllabi  or  teaching  outlines, 
when  is  the  teacher  to  become  familiar  with  the  syl- 
labi ?  When  is  she  to  work  out  the  necessary  accommo- 
dations of  outline  to  books  ?  Usually  supervisors  pre- 
sent such  a  syllabus  and  try  to  console  the  teacher  by 
saying,  "You  can  easily  do  it  in  a  few  minutes."  Prob- 
ably the  few  minutes  will  mean  an  hour  or  more. 
There  may  be  four  or  five  supervisors,  and  there  is  the 
general  supervision  by  principal  or  superintendent.  If 
each  of  these  agencies  use  a  syllabus,  think  of  the 
teacher  then!  When  is  she  to  find  time  to  make  the 
needed  accommodations  of  syllabus  to  textbook  in  from 
six  to  ten  subjects? 


TIME  FOR  CONFERENCES  181 

Can  this  work  be  done  at  the  grade  teachers'  meet- 
ings? Well,  some  superintendents  think  so  and  are 
making  a  hard  trial  to  succeed  by  using  teacher's  meet- 
ings. The  teacher's  meeting  will  very  likely  be  part 
of  the  plan  which  shall  finally  be  adopted,  but  as  a 
sole  reliance  the  teachers'  meeting  is  insufficient.  Time 
is  not  available  to  hold  teachers'  meetings  frequently 
enough.  One  teachers'  meeting  a  month  is  usually  re- 
garded as  about  all  the  time  the  superintendent  should 
spend  with  his  entire  corps  in  teachers'  meetings. 
When  the  teachers'  meeting  is  to  be  held,  that  is  wheth- 
er in  school  hours  or  after  school  hours  or  on  Satur- 
day, is  itself  an  unsolved  problem. 

In  general  this  problem  is  made  more  difficult  be- 
cause every  school  system  takes  new  teachers  on  each 
year.  While  these  new  teachers  are  becoming  familiar 
with  the  course  of  study  they  are  also  to  become  famil- 
iar with  the  syllabi.  Where  is  the  time  to  come  from 
and  where  are  teachers  to  find  the  strength  for  such 
exertions?  Shall  they  be  paid  extra  for  these  extra 
labors  and  for  this  extra  time  ? 

Time  for  Conferences.  To  attain  the  ends  of  super- 
vision, conferences  between  teachers  and  supervisors 
are  necessary.  There  should  be  conferences  before  the 
suprintendent  or  supervisor  observes  work,  confer- 
ences afterward,  conferences  during  vacations,  con- 
ferences during  any  local  crisis.  The  "when"  alone  is 
one  aspect  of  the  problem.  Next,  whose  time  is  to  be 
used  for  the  conference.  Shall  it  be  school  time  or 
Saturday  or  other  after-school  time?  Some  supervis- 
ors practice  a  modification  or  combination  of  all  these. 
The  payment  of  teachers  while  attending  institutes 
foreshadows  a  possible  reply:  Fixed  days  for  grade 
meetings  and  conferences  with  pay  for  the  teachers 


182  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

and  supervisors  for  this  time.  The  meetings  and  con- 
ferences are  held  that  the  child  may  save  time  in  learn- 
ing, hence  the  community  can  afford  to  pay  for  it. 
This  consideration  has  not  been  insistently  forced  into 
prominence  by  superintendents  in  urging  the  claim  for 
extra  pay  for  the  time  put  into  extra  effort  by  teachers, 
supervisors  and  superintendents.  Hesitation  to  urge 
this  claim  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  it  used  to  be 
thought  that  the  teacher  was  trained  and  ready  to  do 
her  work  before  she  began  to  teach.  If  teachers*  meet- 
ings were  held  it  must  be  for  the  benefit  of  the  teach- 
ers, it  was  to  enable  them  to  make  up  for  the  lack  of 
preparatory  training.  We  are  now  justified  in  de- 
manding the  remuneration  for  the  extra  meetings  be- 
cause they  will  shorten  the  learning  time  and  process 
for  the  child,  thus  save  his  time,  and  therefore  save 
the  communities'  time  and  expense. 

Another  aspect  of  this  problem  is  whether  or  not 
the  conference  of  teacher  and  supervisor  should  take 
place  immediately  after  the  supervisor's  visit,  in  school 
time  or  after  school  time?  How  could  it  be  in  school 
time  ?  The  teacher  has  a  class  which  must  not  lose  the 
time.  An  answer  which  has  nowhere  been  tried  is  an 
extra  teacher  who  accompanies  the  supervisor,  and 
who  takes  charge  of  a  room  while  the  supervisor  and 
teacher  are  conferring  after  the  supervisory  visit,  or 
before  it,  too,  if  the  supervisor  desires  to  confer  with 
the  teacher  before  seeing  her  teach  a  particular  sub- 
ject. This  teacher  could  be  used  as  a  substitute  when 
the  supervisor  is  not  visiting  teachers.  The  confer- 
ences of  teachers  and  supervisor  would  surely  occur, 
and  the  fruits  of  supervision  would  be  certainly  gath- 
ered. If  the  real  value  of  supervision  of  instruction 
were  generally  perceived  and  appreciated,  this  extra 


FREQUENCE  OF  VISITS  183 

teacher  would  have  been  asked  for  and  secured.  Su- 
pervisors trust  the  chance  conference  after  school  or 
on  Saturdays.  From  the  chance  conference  very  little 
good  can  result,  hence  the  true  value  of  the  supervisory 
conference  has  been  almost  overlooked  or  unrealized. 

Frequence  of  Supervisory  Visits.  What  is  the 
most  beneficial  frequency  of  visits  of  special  teachers 
or  of  supervisors  of  special  subjects?  Once  a  week, 
once  every  two  weeks,  once  a  month?  Is  the  same 
frequency  needed  by  all  the  subjects  or  should  some 
subjects  be  more  frequently  supervised  than  others? 
How  often  should  the  superintendent  visit  his  teach- 
ers? Is  once  a  month  enough?  Is  that  too  much? 
Frequence  of  visits  of  supervisors  and  superintendents 
has  been  fixed  wholly  by  regard  for  the  time  units  of 
the  school  week  or  school  month,  so  that  the  special 
teacher  never  comes  oftener  than  once  a  week,  per- 
haps not  more  frequently  than  once  a  month.  Why? 
Is  it  entirely  a  matter  of  economy  of  either  time  or  of 
money  for  payment  of  salary?  Or  is  it  reduced  to 
minimal  frequence  because  teachers  are  said  not  to 
like  supervision  in  almost  converse  ratio  to  their  need 
of  it?  What  is  the  answer?  Who  will  determine  the 
matter?  Will  we  not  some  day  recognize  the  fact  of 
units  of  subjects  or  unit  portions  of  processes?  And 
will  the  unit  of  the  subjects  and  of  the  processes  of 
instruction  determine  the  frequence  of  supervisory 
visits?  Whether  that  fact  will  condition  frequence  of 
visits  or  not,  it  is  clear  that  we  have  nothing  but  opin- 
ions on  the  matter  and  the  opinions  are  almost  as  nu- 
merous as  the  school  systems.  Each  system  is  at  work 
on  its  own  opinion  of  the  matter. 

Should  the  superintendent  see  a  teacher  once  a 
month,  once  a  year,  or  how  often?    Should  he  see  a 


184  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

teacher  in  part  of  her  work,  that  is,  should  he  see  a 
few  classes  taught  or  should  he  have  time  to  see  the 
teacher  teach  each  subject  in  her  program?  Should 
he  see  her  at  a  different  time  of  the  day  at  each  visit? 
It  would  be  impossible  for  superintendents  to  try  to 
hold  themselves  to  such  a  modification  of  their  itin- 
erary of  visits,  say  some  superintendents.  Which  is 
but  saying  that  prevailing  practice  is  assumed  to  be 
doing  pretty  well,  and  that  pretty  well  were  better 
left  alone.  To  change  the  proceeding  because  of  the 
recognition  of  a  principle  rather  than  follow  the  chance 
method  of  the  present,  might  get  us  less  satisfactory 
results.  Interpreted  that  statement  says,  "We  are  not 
very  sure  what  are  the  values  of  supervision.  We  as- 
sume that  there  are  some  valuable  results  from  super- 
vision, and  we  might  lose  those  if  we  change  the  prac- 
tice." Supervision  is  not  sure  enough  in  its  convic- 
tions of  its  own  value  to  demand  the  necessary  time 
and  freedom  for  the  supervisor  to  visit  teachers  on 
that  basis  of  frequency.  Has  supervision  made  any 
demands  for  such  an  amount  of  free  time  for  the  su- 
pervisor? Will  it  be  ungracious  to  suggest  that  per- 
haps some  supervisors  are  not  very  sure  that  more 
visits  by  them  would  result  in  gain  to  the  teachers  and 
the  schools?  Irritating  supervision,  of  which  numer- 
ous forms  exist,  may  very  properly  be  reduced  to  a 
minimum,  or  would  that  it  could  be  reduced  to  zero. 

How  much  freedom  from  disturbance  do  schools 
need? 

This  is  not  the  same  question  as  the  former.  Su- 
pervisory visits  may  properly  be  regarded  a  disturb- 
ance, since  the  presence  of  the  supervisor  is  a  differ- 
ent circumstance.  Frequent  disturbances  hinder  and 
annoy.    Every  system  of  schools  that  has  become  fa- 


FREEDOM  FROM  VISITS  185 

mous  like  Gary,  Indiana,  finds  it  must  fix  certain  times, 
say  days  or  even  weeks,  in  which  no  disturbance  of 
teacher  and  children  is  permitted.  "Visiting  priv- 
ilege withdrawn  for  the  day"  needed  to  be  posted  so 
often  that  each  teacher  has  a  card  which  she  fastens 
on  her  door  and  thus  turns  the  stream  of  disturbing 
visitors  away.  Of  course  the  necessity  is  easily  per- 
ceived and  denial  of  the  privilege  is  not  resented  by 
the  visitor,  especially  if  he  be  a  "school  person,"  even 
if  he  has  journeyed  some  hundreds  of  miles  to  see  the 
school.  Unit  of  work  plays  a  part  in  this  freedom  from 
visit,  but  freedom  from  overstimulation  must  also  be 
taken  into  consideration  as  an  end  to  be  kept  in  mind. 
What  amount  of  freedom  from  visiting  does  a  school 
need?  is  therefore  a  problem  which  should  be  solved, 
probably  as  the  complement  of  the  problem  of  the  right 
frequence  of  visits. 

Results  of  Standard  Tests.  How  can  supervision 
make  sure  that  each  teacher  uses  the  results  of  all  tests 
or  of  standard  tests  so  as  to  secure  the  maximum  bene- 
fit? Statistics  and  summaries  and  comparisons  of 
school  systems  are  worth  while,  and  the  work  of  stand- 
ard tests  may  very  properly  make  such  study  of  these 
comparisons  prominent.  After  the  classroom  teacher 
has  found  how  the  home  system  compares  with  neigh- 
boring systems,  and  even  after  she  has  found  the 
standing  of  her  class  with  other  classes  of  the  home 
system,  there  is  a  result  incomparably  more  valuable 
than  either  of  these  facts,  namely,  just  where  each  of 
her  individual  pupils  succeeded  and  where  each  failed 
in  the  test.  From  that  knowledge  should  come  a  series 
of  corrective  lessons  or  drills  for  the  pupil  or  group  of 
pupils  who  have  made  the  same  blunder.  To  discover 
the  blunders,  then  to  group  the  children  according  to 


186  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

the  kind  of  blunder,  then  to  devise  a  way  to  give  to 
each  group  just  the  kind  of  drill  which  it  needs,  all  in 
class  time,  and  without  breaking  up  her  class  or  her 
schedule,  is  a  difficult  problem  for  the  teacher.  Super- 
vision must  solve  the  problem,  but  first  it  must  realize 
the  importance  of  this  aspect  of  standard  tests.  This 
application  of  the  revelations  of  the  test  is  the  fine 
color  and  the  mellow  taste  of  the  ripened  apple. 

Written  or  Oral  Report  of  Observations  of  Super- 
visors. Shall  each  supervisor  inform  the  teacher  of 
the  result  of  his  observations?  Shall  the  report  be 
written  or  oral  or  both  ?  At  first  thought  this  question 
may  seem  to  lack  point.  Consider  that  any  teacher 
may  have  from  one  to  six  special  teachers  or  super- 
visors, and  one  or  more  superintendents  or  assistant 
superintendents.  If  all  these  supervisory  officials  visit 
the  teacher,  shall  each  leave  a  written  copy  of  the  notes 
taken  during  the  visit?  That  will  give  the  teacher  a 
fine  collection  of  notes,  but  does  it  not  appear  to  be 
rather  much  note  receiving?  Are  teachers  to  be  sup- 
plied with  card  index  cabinets  to  keep  their  supervis- 
ory notes?  Is  not  the  oral  report  sufficient,  especially 
if  the  conference  about  the  visit  takes  place  soon  after 
the  visit?  It  might  seem  so  until  it  is  recalled  that  at 
a  subsequent  visit  both  teacher  and  supervisor  may  not 
be  able  to  recall  just  what  was  said  or  observed  during 
the  preceding  visit?  In  practice  it  has  been  found  that 
the  persons  who  visit  infrequently,  say  like  a  super- 
intendent, who  makes  but  two  or  three  visits  a  term 
to  the  teacher,  the  written  statement  of  observations 
is  much  the  more  valuable.  Quite  frequently  too  the 
written  statement  can  be  so  made  and  suggestions  in- 
cluded that  the  conference  after  the  visit  is  not  actually 
necessary  even  if  highly  desirable.    With  the  principal, 


WRITTEN  OR  ORAL  REPORT  187 

for  instance,  who  can  and  does  visit  his  teacher  very 
frequently,  the  oral  report  is  preferable,  except  in  very 
serious  cases.  Even  with  a  principal,  who  can  see  his 
teachers  any  day  and  even  several  times  a  day  when 
necessary,  the  writing  of  a  second  observation  of  the 
same  fault  and  of  its  suggested  correction,  may  be 
made  very  impressive  just  because  it  is  written,  if  the 
teacher's  attention  is  called  to  it  with  the  remark  that 
this  written  form  of  supervisory  correction  is  used  so 
that  the  number  of  times  it  was  observed  and  corrected 
shall  be  recorded.  Trust  to  memory  in  such  cases  is 
productive  of  dispute  and  disagreement.  The  practice 
of  many  years  seems  to  establish  this  distinction  as 
practicable  and  satisfactory. 

Each  supervisor  will  have  his  own  unsolved  prob- 
lems, and  will  also  have  some  form  of  solution  of  his 
problems.  The  art  of  supervision  is  quite  young  and 
the  function  is  not  yet  sufficiently  differentiated  to 
have  yielded  any  large  body  of  accepted  facts  or  to 
have  developed  any  long  series  of  settled  procedures, 
and  that  explains  why  we  have  all  these  unsolved  prob- 
lems. Just  because  of  these  unsolved  problems  the 
meetings  of  supervisors  at  educational  conferences  usu- 
ally are  among  the  most  interesting  features  of  such  a 
convention.  Supervisors  are  mostly  working  alone  on 
their  problems,  and  each  finds  some  kind  of  solution. 
Just  how  each  supervisor  can  be  given  the  benefit  of 
the  experience  of  all  the  others  reveals  the  next  prob- 
lem of  supervision. 

How  may  the  valuable  knowledge  and  skill  of  all 
the  teachers  of  a  corps  be  made  available  for  the  entire 
corps,  and  especially  how  may  the  young  teachers  en- 
tering a  corps  be  given  the  benefit  of  the  skill  and 
power  of  the  experienced  teachers  ?    When  supervision 


188  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

finds  the  answer  to  that  question,  the  work  of  the  nor- 
mal school  will  be  very  much  more  valuable.  One  su- 
perintendent has  tried  cadet  training  of  inexperienced 
teachers  with  such  expert  older  teachers.  The  cost  of 
the  plan  soon  raised  objections  which  could  not  be  over- 
come, and  therefore  the  benefit  of  the  plan  was  not 
given  a  chance  to  become  manifest.  The  faith  of  su- 
pervisors in  such  a  plan  must  become  much  stronger 
than  it  now  is  if  the  experiment  is  to  be  given  a  fair 
trial.  It  must  become  so  strong  that  it  will  insist  upon 
that  form  of  teacher  training  as  the  "continuation 
school"  form.  The  normal  schools  can  not  possibly  find 
places  and  classes  enough  for  the  students  to  get  any 
real  training  in  the  normal  model  school.  Every  large 
school  system  can  in  this  way  train  its  own  teachers, 
at  some  cost  to  the  system,  but  with  great  gain  to  the 
children. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

What  Two  Teachers  Think  op  Supervision. 

Long  after  all  that  has  preceded  had  been  thought 
out,  and  long  even  after  most  of  it  had  been  written 
and  published,  the  two  protests  which  constitute  this 
chapter  came  to  the  writer's  knowledge.  They  are  in- 
cluded because  they  represent  facts  and  a  real  j)oint 
of  view.  Probably  the  preceding  discussions  have  stat- 
ed or  intimated  the  correction  for  the  faults  of  super- 
vision set  forth.  It  is  not  controversy  that  is  aimed 
at  but  a  contrasted  point  of  view.  The  conscientious 
supervisor  will  want  to  feel  that  he  has  a  proper  cor- 
rection for  every  complaint  voiced  by  the  two  teachers. 

How  general  is  the  feeling  expressed  by  the  two 
voices  of  protest  is  a  problem.  Some  time  soon  a  de- 
partment of  graduate  study  of  education  will  make  a 
study  of  supervision  of  instruction  in  the  supervisory 
units  lying  all  about  it  in  cities,  boroughs  and  counties 
to  ascertain  what  is  the  attitude  of  entire  bodies  of 
teachers  toward  supervision.  Not  all  the  sentiment  is 
hostile  or  questioning.  What  percent  is  friendly  is 
merely  a  guess.  Hostile  feeling  usually  treats  itself  to 
unrestrained  utterance  and  so  gives  the  impression  of 
a  host  though  but  few  voices  are  vociferating.  The 
many  teachers  who  feel  benefited  and  who  like  super- 
vision say  nothing.  The  few  who  feel  wronged  speak 
ceaselessly  about  it.  The  impression  resulting  from 
such  a  state  of  aflfairs  is  consequently  false.  Recently, 
out  of  ten  teachers  in  a  school  system  under  super- 
vision, but  one  was  opposed  to  supervision  when  ques- 

189 


190  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

tioned  by  an  applicant  about  to  enter  the  system,  but 
that  one  said  more  mean  and  poisonous  things  than  all 
the  nine  together  said  in  favor  of  the  scheme.  Here 
too  fault-finding  was  on  the  personal  basis. 

The  first  paper*  was  read  at  the  Chicago  meeting  of 
the  Department  of  Superintendence  of  the  National 
Education  Association.  The  reading  of  the  paper 
made  a  very  deep  impression  on  the  3,500  superintend- 
ents present  to  hear  it.  No  superintendent  can  pass  it 
over  hastily  or  lightly.  It  calls  attention  to  supervis- 
ory procedures  that  are  faulty  or  vicious. 

EFFECTS  OF  SUPERVISION  AND  CONSTRUCTIVE 

SUGGESTIONS  THEREON. 

Salue  Hill. 

As  though  anticipating  this  opportunity  for  us,  the  grade 
teachers  of  the  United  States,  to  present  our  views  on  super- 
vision, the  grade  teachers  of  St.  Paul  devoted  the  December 
issue  of  their  Bulletin  to  what  they  termed  "The  gentle  art  of 
supervising."  I  quote  from  the  editorial:  "We,  the  grade  teach- 
ers of  this  broad  land,  who  are  the  mute  recipients  of  so  much 
wisdom  and  advice  from  those  above  us,  find  now  and  then  ris- 
ing in  our  American  trained  hearts  a  desire  to  advise  our  ad- 
visors." 

Because  this  desire  is  about  to  be  gratified,  another  feeling 
arises  in  our  American-trained  hearts,  a  feeling  of  satisfaction 
that  this  courtesy  is  extended  to  us  by  the  advisors  unsolicited 
by  the  advised. 

What  I  am  to  say  is,  therefore,  the  consensus  of  opinions 
gathered  from  elementary  teachers  in  many  sections  of  the  coun- 
try and  their  unanimity  would  indicate  that  supervision  is  not 
what  it  is  intended  to  be.  That  some  of  you  feel  the  same  is 
shown  by  this  discussion,  so  I  hope  our  views  will  not  be  branded 
as  the  views  of  prejudiced  teachers,  but  accepted  as  the  result 


♦Journal  of  Education,  March  20,  1919. 


CRITICISMS  OF  SUPERVISION  191 

of  experiences  of  persons  trained  for  their  work  and  upon  whom 
through  their  long  years  of  service,  has  fallen  the  heavy  burden 
of  over-supervision.  This  paper  has  no  value  if  applied  only  to 
the  teachers.  It  is  the  effect  of  unwise  supervision  on  the  pupil 
that  justifies  the  time  and  topic  assigned  me.  The  child  is  the 
school — what  is  not  good  for  the  child  is  not  good  for  the  teach- 
er.    Theories  which  fail  in  the  practice  should  be  abandoned. 

As  we  all  know,  the  largest  number  of  children  complete 
their  school  life  with  the  elementary  grades.  The  public  owes 
these  children,  who  represent  the  great  mass  of  our  future  citi- 
zens, the  best  elementary  education  which  can  be  devised  in 
order  that  the  results  may  be  v/orthy  of  our  labor  and  desire. 

To  secure  these  best  results  it  is  necessary  that  the  elemen- 
tary teacher  should  work  under  conditions  which  conduce  to 
cheerfulness,  hopefulness  and  initiation  [initiative]  on  her  part. 
Such  conditions  do  not  now  obtain,  and  for  this  our  present  sys- 
tem of  supervision  is  largely  responsible. 

From  the  long  list  of  criticisms  of  supervision  of  special  sub- 
jects I  have  chosen  only  those  mentioned  in  the  majority  of  the 
reports. 

First:  Lack  of  democracy  in  our  public  school  systems.  We 
have  no  share  in  shaping  school  policy.  We  do  not  feel  we  have 
a  real  part  in  either  the  system  or  in  educational  organizations. 
In  the  former  we  perform  the  duties  assigned  us,  and  in  the 
latter  we  pay  our  dues,  and  they  are  the  sole  duties  of  teachers. 
We  are  not  making  any  effort  to  run  either  one,  neither  do  we 
like  always  to  be  run. 

Second:  Democracy  cannot  exist  with  the  present  system 
which  gives  so  much  power  to  those  who  supervise.  We  have 
been  trained  to  think;  you  encourage  us  to  do  extension  work 
and  attend  summer  schools.  We  have  been  your  pupils,  some- 
times your  fellow  students,  we  have  learned  your  methods, 
imbibed  your  theories  on  democracy  in  the  schools,  have  learned 
to  direct  children  in  planning  and  executing  projects,  and  when 
we  take  up  our  work,  what  do  we  find?  We  find  a  condition  in 
which  we  are  to  use  no  initiative,  are  not  able  to  put  into  prac- 
.  tice  anything  we  have  learned.  Instead  of  training  children  to 
carry  out  projects,  we  are  ourselves  only  the  mediums  through 
which  others  work. 


192  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

Third:  Too  many  supervisors  are  lacking  in  training,  per- 
sonality and  teaching  experience.  When  shall  we  learn  that  a 
department  certificate  does  not  fit  a  man  or  woman  without  ex- 
perience to  be  a  supervisor;  or  a  six  to  ten  weeks'  summer 
course  fit  an  experienced  teacher  to  be  one?  One  class  needs 
schoolroom  experience  and  the  other  class  needs  more  training 
in  criticism  and  supervision.  The  lack  of  these  qualities  is  the 
cause  of  constant  irritation  to  the  expei'ienced  teachers.  It  is 
humiliating  and  tends  to  neither  cheerfulness  nor  hopefulness 
to  have  to  submit  to  the  criticisms  of  those  whose  lack  of  train- 
ing and  experience  has  not  fitted  them  for  their  positions.  These 
limitations  are  so  frequent  as  to  disqualify  a  large  number  of 
those  now  doing  supervisory  work.  No  training  and  teaching 
experience  are  needed  to  see  back  of  the  form  and  into  the  spirit 
of  a  recitation.  There  should  be  less  study  of  the  teacher's  plan 
and  a  closer  study  of  the  effect  of  the  teaching  upon  the  class. 

Fourth:  Frequently  psychological  laws  are  utterly  disre- 
garded in  a  supervisor's  methods  of  criticism.  Teachers  are 
taught  that  the  worst  possible  method  in  dealing  with  children 
is  to  leave  them  discouraged,  yet  there  are  many  times  when  a 
teacher  is  left  without  courage  or  self-confidence.  For  a  teacher 
to  be  left  in  such  a  state  is  a  crime  against  teacher  and  pupil. 
Unwise,  unfeeling  criticism  from  supervisors  has  contributed 
more  to  the  hysterical,  broken  down  condition  of  the  teaching 
body  than  any  other  one  cause. 

Fifth:  Supervisors  too  often  discuss  unfavorably  the  work 
of  the  pupils  before  the  class,  which  is  a  reflection  upon  the 
teacher. 

Sixth:  There  are  supervisors  who  mark  the  pupils'  work, 
keeping  up  a  running  fire  of  criticism  to  the  teacher  all  the 
while.  The  pupils  during  this  time  are  given  work  to  keep 
them  quiet.  Imagine  the  result  and  after  effects  of  such  criti- 
cism upon  teacher  and  class.  These  are  the  ones  who  have  no 
time  to  listen  to  a  recitation  or  to  give  a  lesson. 

Seventh:  The  supervisor's  mental  and  physiological  condi- 
tion plays  too  large  a  part  in  the  rating  and  reports  made  to 
superintendents.  Favoritism  is  another  disagreeable  factor  met 
with  oftener  than  perhaps  you  realize. 

Eighth:  Too  much  is  demanded  by  the  system  of  the  teach- 
er.    Each  teacher  is  expected  to  be  a  specialist  in  all  subjects 


SUPERVISOR'S  RATING  POWER  193 

supervised  and  her  rating  depends  upon  the  degree  in  which  her 
class  work  measures  up  to  the  standard  set  by  the  supervisors, 
each  of  whom  has  to  prepare  only  one  subject,  generally  in  an 
office  during  the  time  the  teacher  is  teaching.  Think  what  a 
super-woman  a  teacher  must  be  to  compete  with  specialists  in 
from  one  to  five  subjects  and  finish  all  work  in  these  and  the 
other  branches  in  the  specified  time.  Is  it  any  wonder  that 
school  work  is  condemned  on  the  ground  that  boys  and  girls 
know  so  little  about  any  one  subject? 

Last  and  most  vicfous  of  all  is  the  rating  power  of  super- 
visors. Here  let  me  say  that  I  do  not  want  to  give  the  impres- 
sion that  we  are  sensitive.  No  person  who  has  remained  a 
teacher  for  ten  years  can  be  sensitive.  She  is  either  dead  or 
gone  into  some  other  business.  But  teachers  are  afraid.  They 
must  hold  their  positions  or  think  they  must,  and  they  follow 
the  course  that  seems  most  helpful;  that  is,  they  give  all  the 
time  they  can,  and  then  some  more,  in  preparation  of  super- 
vised studies;  for  upon  the  principal's  report,  plus  the  super- 
intendent's report,  plus  the  school  board's,  plus  the  parent's 
opinion,  plus  the  pupil's  approval,  plus  the  supervisor's  rating 
do  their  salaries  depend;  but  the  feeling,  whether  right  or 
wrong,  is  firmly  established  that  the  supervisor's  rating  makes 
or  mars  the  teacher's  future.  Many  schools  give  no  credits  for 
these  special  studies.  The  pupils  receive  marks,  but  these  marks 
in  no  way  affect  their  promotion.  The  pupils  soon  learn  this. 
Yet,  note  this  well,  the  teacher's  tenure  depends  partly  at  least 
upon  the  rating  given  her  on  the  class  work  done  in  the  super- 
vised branches.  Is  this  fair?  Pupils  know  the  marks  count 
them  nothing,  yet  the  teacher  wins  or  loses  by  their  work. 

In  fact  our  system  is  tottering  because  of  too  many  of  every- 
thing. Too  many  supervisors  with  big  salaries  and  undue  rat- 
ing power.  Too  many  pupils  in  one  room.  Too  many  studies 
for  one  child.  Do  you  ever  permit  yourselves  to  forget  the 
recitations  one  teacher  in  the  elementary  grades  is  expected  to 
hear — I  cannot  say  teach — in  one  day?  For  fear  you  can't 
recall  them  let  me  remind  you  of  the  subjects,  both  supervised 
and  unsupervised  in  which  she  must  be  proficient  and  show 
enthusiastic  interest:  Arithmetic,  geography,  history,  civics, 
oral  and  written  language  and  what  technical  grammar  she 
dares  introduce,  spelling,  phonics,  reading,  memory  work,  litera- 


194  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

ture,  nature  study,  use  of  dictionary,  courtesy,  how  and  where  to 
find  current  topics,  gymnastics,  drawing,  music,  and  sewing, 
with  an  occasional  competitive  composition  thrown  in  for  good 
measure.    Could  you  do  it?    Neither  can  we. 

I  have  mentioned  the  defects  of  supervision  as  most  com- 
monly stated  and  respectfully  submit  the  following  suggestions: 

Do  away  with  supervisors  in  the  elementary  schools,  as  they 
have  been  dropped  from  the  senior  high  school,  and  largely 
from  the  junior  high  school,  with  most  beneficial  results.  If 
this  plan  is  good  in  the  upper  grades,  it  will  be  even  better  in 
the  elementary,  for  there  is  where  the  variety  of  studies  pre- 
vails. Let  the  heretofore  supervised  studies  be  given  to  teach- 
ers who  have  proved  themselves  especially  adapted  and  there- 
fore especially  successful  in  that  work.  Let  one  teacher  have 
two  of  these  subjects  in  one  building,  or  one  subject  in  two  build- 
ings just  as  manual  training  and  cooking  are  now  taught.  Do 
not  require  the  regular  teacher  to  be  in  the  room  during  the  reci- 
tation, but  give  the  responsibility  of  discipline  and  teaching  to 
the  special  teacher.  This  will  unify  the  work  in  that  subject 
in  the  building,  which  is  even  better  than  unifying  the  work  of 
the  system.  With  a  course  of  study  provided,  these  teachers  of 
special  work  need  no  supervisors  any  more  than  the  teachers  of 
the  essentials,  or  what  used  to  be  the  essentials,  need  them. 

Or  if  this  suggestion  is  too  radical  and  you  think  we  must 
have  supervision  in  the  large  city  systems,  then  limit  the  duties 
of  supervision  to  giving  assistance  to  the  teacher  and  unifying 
the  work  of  the  system,  giving  these  studies,  we  still  insist,  to 
the  few  who  can  do  them  well.  It  is  stealing  children's  time  to 
have  them  do  special  work  under  any  one  but  specialists.  Hap- 
piness is  the  heritage  of  the  childhood  and  we  cannot  make 
children  happy  unless  we  are  happy  ourselves. 

A  word  as  to  principals:  We  ask  that  they  be  chosen  for 
experience  and  training  rather  than  for  a  degree;  that  prin- 
cipals be  asked  to  serve  one  year  at  least  on  probation  to  prove 
their  fitness. 

I  am  glad  that  I  have  had  an  opportunity  to  say  these 
things  for  my  own  class  of  teachers,  and  if  only  one  superin- 
tendent here  goes  home  with  a  little  better  understanding  of  our 


TEACHER'S  VIEWPOINT  195 

cause,  something  has  been  gained  for  us,  I  believe  that  the 
time  has  come  to  speak  freely  of  these  matters  to  those  who 
have  power  to  change  conditions  which  are  so  burdensome  to 
us.  To  you  who  deal  with  the  big  problems,  these  criticisms 
may  seem  petty,  but  "going  over  the  top"  is  sometimes  easier 
than  bearing  the  daily  annoyances  of  trench  life.  I  thank  your 
president  for  giving  me  the  opportunity  to  speak  the  truth 
frankly,  for  when  you  shall  see  the  truth,  the  truth  shall  make 
you  free. 

The  second  paper*  was  read  at  the  Pennsylvania 
State  Educational  Association  meeting  at  Philadelphia 
on  December  30,  1919,  by  Miss  Carrie  E.  Koons,  of 
AUentown.  This  too  is  a  dignified  and  serious  pro- 
test against  some  pernicious  practices  called  by  a  noble 
name.  No  serious  student  of  supervision  as  an  aspect 
of  educational  development  and  activity  can  pass  this 
paper  over  M^ithout  admitting  the  objectionable  fea- 
tures and  thinking  his  own  attitude  into  coherence  and 
unity : 

SUPERVISION  OF  TEACHING:    VIEWPOINT  OF  THE 

TEACHER. 

Carrie  E.  Koons. 

It  is  with  a  feeling  of  hesitancy  that  I  venture  to  address 
this  body  of  supermen  and  superwomen;  for  before  me  appear 
those  men  and  women  who  have  been  thus  portrayed:  "Super- 
visors are  usually  chosen  because  of  marked  natural  aptitudes 
in  the  way  of  leadership  and  executive  ability;  because 
they  possess  technical  and  expert  knowledge  of  educational  pro- 
cesses, and  are  capable  of  employing  that  knowledge  for  the  de- 
velopment and  advancement  of  the  institution  coming  under 
their  control."  The  word  "usually"  implies,  however,  that  there 
were  some  reservations  in  the  mind  of  the  writer. 

For  many  years  supervisors  occupied  a  strongly  intrenched 
position.  No  one  sought  to  question  their  authority,  or  to  di- 
minish their  powers.  While  systems,  superintendents  and 
teachers,  received  their  full  measure  of  adverse  criticism,  super- 

*Penna.   School  Journal,   April,   1920,   p.  438. 


196  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

visors  exercised  their  "gentle  art"  of  supervision  undisturbed 
and  undismayed.  It  was  not  until  within  recent  years,  largely 
through  surveys  made  of  educational  systems,  that  supervision 
was  "  weighed  in  the  balance  and  found  wanting." 

Emboldened  by  their  conclusions,  the  voice  of  criticism  has 
grown  louder  and  more  insistent,  coming  from  all  sources — the 
lecture  platform,  the  educational  magazines,  educational  confer- 
ences; and  even  some  more  venturesome  of  the  "submerged" 
grade  teachers  have  begun  to  voice  some  of  their  dissatisfac- 
tion with  those  who  have  so  long  presided  over  their  professional 
destinies.  These  are  truly  the  days  of  vanishing  thrones  and 
of  revolutions.  So  it  is  not  altogether  surprising  that  super- 
visors are  not  only  encouraging,  but  even  inviting  those  who 
have  been  their  most  subsei'vient  followers — the  lowly  grade 
teachers — to  give  expression  to  their  views  on  the  subject  of 
"The  Supervision  of  Teaching." 

That  is  the  excuse  for  this  paper.  Although  it  places  teach- 
ers in  the  rather  delicate  and  embarrassing  position  of  criticis- 
ing their  superiors.  Having  accepted  the  challenge,  let  us  nerve 
ourselves  to  the  task. 

A  state  superintendent  of  education,  in  a  lecture  recently 
delivered  before  a  body  of  teachers,  gave  as  one  of  the  great 
"wastes"  in  education,  "the  growing  hostility  between  super- 
intendents, supervisors,  and  teachers."  I  would  also  call  your 
attention  to  the  following  resolution  passed  by  a  group  of  pub- 
lic school  teachers:  "This  Union  is  opposed  to  the  admission 
of  those  having  disciplinary  or  rating  power  over  teachers  to 
the  same  local  (Union)  with  teachers." 

While  we  may  regret  such  action  as  still  "widening  the  gulf" 
between  supervisors  and  teachers,  still  we  cannot  help  but  be- 
lieve that  no  group  of  teachers  would  take  such  drastic  action 
without  having  some  strong  ground  for  complaint,  and  without 
a  feeling  that  they  had  real  grievances  for  which  they  could  not 
secure  redress  by  the  usual  channels.  What  are  some  of  the 
specific  causes  which  produce  this  discontent? 

One  of  the  leading  reasons  is  that  supervisors  apparently 
lack  a  "time  sense."  They  seem  to  agree  with  the  statement 
that  teachers  have  the  shortest  day,  the  shortest  week,  the 
shortest  year,  of  any  profession,  and  promptly  proceed  to  de- 
vise means  and  methods  for  making  up  the  deficiency.     Does 


WORKING  OVERTIME  197 

the  supervisor  forget  the  annual  pilgrimages  to  summer  schools, 
and  the  time  given  to  extension  work  during  the  term?  Does 
he  forget  the  many  hours  of  arduous  labor  that  are  required 
to  carry  out  only  one  of  the  numerous  educational  projects  that 
he  demands?  Does  he  forget  the  hours  that  must  be  spent  in 
research,  in  the  reading  of  educational  journals,  and  the  latest 
books  on  educational  subjects?  Does  he  forget  the  many  hours 
devoted  to  the  preparation  of  lesson  plans,  and  the  time  spent 
in  supervisory  conferences  on  each  and  every  subject  in  the 
curriculum? 

This  does  not  take  into  account  the  endless  amount  of  clerical 
work,  and  numerous  other  details,  which  often  serve  to  lengthen 
out  the  one  day  into  the  "wee  sma'  "  hours  of  the  next.  Each 
supervisor  is  equally  exacting.  He  forgets  that  other  super- 
visors have  an  equal  right  to  make  demands  on  the  time  and 
energies  of  the  teacher.  We  hear  much  of  the  dearth  of  teach- 
ers. Inaugurate  a  longer  day,  a  longer  week,  a  longer  year, 
as  is  now  contemplated,  and  still  fewer  men  and  women  will  be 
willing  to  enter  the  profession,  in  spite  of  a  promised  substantial 
increase  in  salaries.  If  the  present  amount  of  work  outside  of 
school  hours  is  to  be  continued,  it  will  take  a  "miracle  man," 
a  "miracle  woman,"  to  endure  the  strain. 

Teachers  are  frequently  called  to  meetings  by  their  super- 
visors. This  should  be  the  supervisors'  classroom  project,  and 
it  would  be  only  reasonable  to  suppose  that  it  has  received  the 
same  careful  planning  and  organization  as  is  required  of  the 
teacher  in  her  classroom  practice.  Here  she  should  be  stimu- 
lated to  increase  her  efficiency,  but  instead,  the  meeting  often 
appears  to  have  no  other  aim  than  to  serve  as  a  clearing  house 
for  the  fault-finding  of  the  supervisor,  and  to  offer  a  convenient 
method  for  the  passing  out  of  a  few  more  outlines  for  still  more 
work.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  teachers  go  "unwillingly  to 
school?"  They  leave  the  meeting  disheartened,  discouraged,  and 
with  little  or  no  inspiration  for  their  work  in  future. 

Perhaps  a  new  course  of  study  is  in  the  making.  Here 
would  seem  to  be  at  last  a  splendid  opportunity  to  give  recog- 
nition to  those  within  the  teaching  staff  who  have  shown  marked 
ability,  initiative,  and  superior  executive  qualities.  The  teach- 
ers represent  approximately  ninety  percent  of  those  who  are 
to  put  the  plan  into  operation.    Their  experience  is  worth  more 


198  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

than  anything  that  can  be  copied  from  some  other  source,  often 
by  the  "scissors  and  paste"  method,  or  framed  in  some  comfort- 
able office,  largely  by  theory.  Yet  how  rarely  are  supervisors 
willing  to  receive  suggestions,  or  through  discussion  and  inter- 
change of  experiences  to  arrive  at  a  common  conclusion. 

Having  so  long  bowed  to  the  yoke  of  supervision,  and  being 
so  accustomed  to  follow  dictated  methods  and  courses  of  study, 
the  teacher  meekly  accepts  the  new  schedule  without  comment. 
"Her's  not  to  reason  why,  her's  but  to  do  or  die."  Can  we  blame 
the  teacher  for  her  apparent  lack  of  initiative  and  enthusiasm? 
Teachers  are  required  to  be  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  "edu- 
cative process,"  and  to  be  guided  by  its  principles  in  their  class- 
room procedure.  Is  it  asking  too  much  that  the  supervisor  be 
equally  familiar  with  these  principles,  and  that  he  employ  them 
in  the  classroom  demonstrations,  which  he  gives  for  the  benefit 
of  the  teacher  in  charge?  Supervisors  often  seem  to  forget  that 
they  were  chosen  for  their  high  position  from  among  a  large 
number  of  equally  skillful  teachers. 

The  practice  of  placing  a  little  fluttering  piece  of  paper  on 
the  teacher's  desk,  or  the  writing  of  letters  from  the  office  after 
a  teacher's  work  has  been  observed  is  often  regarded  by  the 
teacher  as  signifying  the  inability  of  the  supervisor  to  cope 
with  the  situation.  Of  course,  the  teacher  can  offer  no  ex- 
planations or  excuses,  although  they  may  be  quite  legitimate. 
Why  not  consult  with  the  teacher  and  show  her  concretely  in 
the  classroom  what  educational  principles  she  has  violated,  and 
how  she  can  make  her  instruction  more  effective?  The  most 
expert  teachers  know  that  the  perfect  recitation  is  yet  to  be 
heard.  They  are  very  sensitive  to  its  defects,  and  will  gladly 
welcome  constructive  criticism.  A  source  of  irritation  is  that 
some  supervisors  make  no  comment  whatever.  The  teacher 
does  not  know  whether  her  work  is  meeting  with  approval  or 
disapproval.     She  can  only  hope  the  "no  news  is  good  news." 

It  is  the  rating  power  of  the  superivsor  that  is,  however,  the 
"head  and  front  of  the  offense,"  and  has  led  teachers  to  ask 
to  be  relieved  of  supervision  entirely.  It  has  been  claimed  that 
rating  is  neither  just  nor  fair,  and  often  made  after  a  few  hur- 
ried visits  to  the  classroom,  and  that  it  is  largely  dominated  by 
personal  idiosyncrasies  of  the  supervisor.  Some  consideration 
must  be  given  to  this  contention. 


INDIVIDUAL  HELP  199 

Investigations  have  shown  that  there  are  wide  variations 
in  the  judgments  of  different  supervisors  when  rating  the  same 
teachers.  In  one  case  45  percent  of  the  teachers  were  found 
"meritorious,"  while  another  supervisor  considered  only  16  per- 
cent of  the  same  group  "meritorious."  More  instances  of  the 
same  kind  might  be  given.  This  appears  to  show  that  the  rat- 
ings of  the  supervisors  are  not  as  reliable  as  a  guide  as  had 
been  supposed.  Examinations  and  personal  opinion  have  also 
played  their  part,  yet  we  are  told  that  "the  unreliability  of  the 
one  is  only  exceeded  by  the  uncertainty  of  the  other."  Yet  on 
these  same  premises  teachers  have  been  demoted,  salaries  de- 
creased, and  even  dismissals  made.  But  this  is  only  one  side 
of  the  question  of  supervision.  Teachers  do  not  wish  to  be 
accused  of  taking  a  narrow,  prejudiced  view,  or  of  being  led 
by  their  personal  feelings. 

"To  develop  the  professional  resources  and  the  personal 
powers  of  the  teacher  through  professional  stimulation,  per- 
sonal encouragement,  and  technical  guidance  have  been  as- 
sumed to  be  the  chief  aims  of  supervision."  That  supervision 
has  not  always  reached  this  high  ideal  is  often  caused  by  the 
same  conditions  of  which  teachers  complain.  There  are  too 
many  teachers  to  supervise,  too  many  clerical  and  administra- 
tive duties  to  perform,  to  permit  the  supervisor  to  give  the 
individual  constructive  help  that  teachers  need.  The  more 
thoughtful  teachers,  those  who  have  taught  both  with  and  with- 
out supervision,  those  who  are  most  vitally  interested  in  their 
professional  improvement,  recognize  that  they  have  need  of  ad- 
vice and  guidance.  They  do  not  wish  for  less  supervision,  but 
more — of  the  efficient  type.  They  know  that  much  of  the  ad- 
vance that  has  been  made  in  the  past  educational  practice  is 
due  to  competent  supervision.  This  is  the  chief  reason  for  their 
(teachers)  being. 

To  the  supervisor  the  superintendent  delegates  much  of  the 
responsibility  for  putting  his  plans  and  policies  into  successful 
operation.  Coming  intimately  into  direct  relationship  with  the 
different  phases  of  school  work,  the  supervisor  sees  the  needs 
of  the  schools,  and  can  formulate  them  in  his  recommendations 
to  school  authorities.  Each  year  teachers  enter  the  profession 
without  any  previous  or  adequate  preparation.  The  supervisor 
has  demonstrated  that  he  is  equal  to  the  task  of  "training  these 
teachers  in  service."    By  means  of  standardized  tests,  he  gauges 


200  COMMON-SENSE  SUPERVISION 

the  efiiciency  of  both  teachers  and  pupils  and  sets  up  higher 
standards  of  accomplishments.  He  is  constantly  alert  to  all  the 
latest  movements  in  the  educational  field.  He  interprets  them 
for  the  benefit  of  his  teachers  and  assists  them  in  introducing 
the  more  worthy  into  classroom  procedure.  He  shows  teachers 
how  the  fundamental  principles  of  education  may  be  applied  to 
the  solution  of  their  difficulties,  and  how  through  these  same 
agencies  greater  success  may  be  attained.  By  determining  the 
character  of  the  programs  of  study,  he  sees  that  uniformity  of 
aim,  method  and  materials  exist,  and  that  better  correlation 
between  subjects  of  the  curriculum  is  brought  about.  That  in 
some  case  super\'ision  has  become  too  arbitrary  and  autocratic 
is  proved  by  current  opinion.  The  energies  of  teachers  should 
not,  however,  be  spent  in  opposing  and  defying  powers,  but  in 
remedying  defects. 

That  teachers  should  be  given  more  of  a  voice  in  the  manage- 
ment of  school  affairs  is  being  recognized.  Organized  groups 
of  teachers  are  being  requested  to  meet  with  boards  of  educa- 
tion, and  to  present  their  %-iews  of  educational  plans  and  pol- 
icies. It  has  been  proposed  that  supervisors  themselves  be  su- 
pervised. This  is  being  carried  into  effect  by  special  super- 
visors whose  aim  is  to  make  an  impersonal,  objective  measure- 
ment of  the  result  and  worth  of  the  school,  and  on  the  basis  of 
this  appraisal  to  propose  new  standards,  and  methods. 

A  committee  making  a  survey  of  a  school  system  has  de- 
clared that,  "What  is  needed  is  an  organization  that  provides 
for  the  fullest  consideration  of  educational  policies  by  super- 
intendents, supervisors,  principals,  and  grade  teachers,  where 
every  major  problem  may  be  discussed  with  the  fullest  harmony 
and  with  the  most  complete  information  as  to  its  bearing  upon 
the  interests  of  pupils,  teachers,  and  of  the  community." 

It  has  been  rather  timidly  suggested  that  we  have  an  agency 
within  our  systems  that  might  be  utilized — the  teachers  them- 
selves. Would  it  not  be  possible  to  devise  some  honorable  meth- 
od by  which  the  superintendent  might  become  more  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  the  activities  and  methods  of  those  individuals 
whose  principal  attention  is  devoted  to  directing  and  elevating 
the  standards  of  teaching?  Of  course,  nol^iins  shoiild  be  per- 
mitted that  would  lessen  the  dignity  or  violate  the  ethics  of  the 
profession. 


UNITED  EFFORTS  201 

If  none  of  these  plans  seems  feasible  or  desirable,  may  teach- 
ers at  least  ask  for  a  more  sympathetic  attitude  on  the  part  of 
the  supervisor  toward  the  difficult  task  of  the  teacher,  a  less 
arrogant  evaluation  of  classroom  proficiency,  a  more  generous 
interpretation  of  the  worth  of  the  teacher? 

We  need  supervisors,  we  need  all  we  can  get,  "to  harmon- 
ize, to  direct,  to  lead,  to  inspire,"  and  we  hope  in  presenting 
these  views,  we  will  not  be  accused  of  waving  a  "red  flag"  or 
of  wishing  "to  set  up  a  dictatorship,"  and  "to  have  control 
of  details  of  operation."  Both  supervisors  and  teachers  have 
the  same  interests  at  heart.  Both  are  striving  for  the  same 
great  object — the  good  of  the  child.  Service  to  children  means 
service  to  teachers.  Only  the  united  efforts  of  supervisors  and 
teachers  can  fit  the  child  for  the  position  he  is  to  occupy  in  life, 
and  the  world  be  made  a  better  place  to  live  in;  and  the  great 
aims  of  education  be  achieved. 

Young  students  of  supervision  and  young  super- 
visors will  do  well  to  read  both  of  these  articles  sev- 
eral times,  and  then  to  make  sure  that  they  know  at 
least  one  corrective  for  each  fault  cited.  That  may 
prevent  much  bitterness  of  experience. 


INDEX 


Acknowledgment    of    helpfulness,    18 
Adaptations    and    readjustments,    135 
Appreciation    of    assistance,    103 
Attitude    toward    supervisor,    personal 

and  professional,   97 
Authority    to    direct,    98 ;      in    super- 
vision,  89 

Beginning-   correctly,   24 

Boyce,    Prof.   Arthur   Clifton,    146 

Business    administrative    ability,     157 

Cadet    teaching,    67 

Child,    development    of   the,    72 

Class,  conduct  of,  33 

Classification   of   teachers,    151 

Commendation,    productive,    86 

Commending    the    commendable,     34 ; 

work,  40 
Condemnation   before   pupils,    95 ;    vs. 

failure,    9 
Conference  after  visit,  35 ;     time  for, 

181 
Continuous    teaching     effort,     absence 

of,    10 
Contradictory   directions,    108 
Criticism    by    supervisor,    manner    of, 

27  ;    constructive,    welcomed,    198 

Daily  difficulties,  173  ;  notation  of,  170 

Efficiency   valuation    systems,    142 

Equivalence    of    instruction,    158 

Estimates  of  teachers  by  superintend- 
ents, 177 

Ethical  relations,   88 

Ethics   of   teaching,   29 

Excellence  or  defects,  final  judgment 
of,  113 ;  degrees  of,  148 ;  table  of, 
142  ;   elements   of,   53,    54 

Experience  as  a  basis  of  teaching 
ability,    144 

Experienced   teachers,    11 

Favoritism  shown   by   supervisor,    192 

Grading  of  teachers,  141 ;  of  work,  15 

Harmony    between    principal    and    su- 
pervisor,   111 
Help,    individual,    199 
Helpful  suggestions,  13,  46 
Hill.   Sallie,   Denver,   Colo.,   190 
Hostility  and  opposition  to  supervisor, 
104 

Incapacities  of  teachers,   77 
Independent    room-teacher,    80 
Inspiration    of   irritation   through    su- 
pervision,  39 


Inspiring  supervision,   62 

Instruction,    improvement  of,    19 ;     of 

old   and    new   teachers,    145 
Instructional    opportunities,      equality 

in,   162  ;   qualities,    165 
Invigorating    instruction,    48 

Journal   of   Education,    190 
Judging  Teachers,  58,  83 
Judgment,  transmittal  of,  2S 

Koons,  Carrie  E.,  Allentown,  Pa.,  195 

Lesson    planning    before    supervisor's 

visit,  41 
Lessons,    written    and    oral,    163 

Marking,  ar"bitrary,   153 

Meetings,  general,  123 ;  grade  teach- 
ers, 122,  125,  130:  lecture  plan, 
127  ;  part-time,  129 

Methods,  adoption  and  adaptation  of. 
137 

Model   teaching   by   supervisor,    79 

National    Society    for    the    Study    of 

Education,  146 
New      and      complete      instruction     a 

necessity,    164 

Observation   blank,   51 

Observations    of   instruction,    notation 

of,  22 
Observations    of    supervisor    for    dis- 
cussion,   126 
Opinion,  differences  of,   91 
Opportunities,    equalized,    163 
Over-specialized  teaching,   78 

Pay  and   rating  scales,    152 

Pennsylvania  State  Educational  As- 
sociation meeting,  195  ;  professional 
ethics,   90 

Personal    likes    and   dislikes,    7 

Points  of  view  of  open-minded  teach- 
ers,  20 

Principal   as   supervisor,    69,    112 

Problems    for   teachers'    meetings,    128 

Procedure,    definite,    138 

Professional  growth  of  teacher  and 
supervisor,  131 ;  respect  and  consid- 
eration  by   teacher,    102 

Progress  of  work  directed  by  super- 
vision, 42 

Protests   from  teachers,   189 

Pupils,   development  of  the,   159 

Qualifications,    difference    in,    43 
Quality   of   instruction   to   be  secured, 
159 


203 


204 


INDEX— Concluded 


Rating,  dissatisfaction  with,  156 ;  of 
teachers,  150 ;  of  superintendent, 
174,  175  ;  of  superintendent,  public, 
176 ;  of  superintendent,  variety  of, 
178. 

Readjustment,   discomfort  of,   12 

Record  of  happenings  during  super- 
visor's visits,  65 ;  of  judgments  of 
quality  and  value  of  instruction,  55 

Recognition  of  supervision  by  super- 
intendent, 166 

Recommendations  and  adaptation,  134 

Reference   bureau,    110 

Relations  with  supervisor,  personal 
and  professional,   99,   100 

Remuneration  for  extra  meetings,  182 

Reports  as  recommendations,  57 ;  to 
superintendent,  monthly,  85 ;  writ- 
ten or  oral,   186,   187 

Resignation  and  submission  of  poor 
teachers,  101 

Responsibility,  division  of,  107 ;  anal- 
ysis of,  114 ;  of  principals  and  su- 
perintendents,   154 

Round  table  discussions,   124 

Routine  procedure  or  sing  song  teach- 
ing, 179 

Salary  schedules,  143 

Scale  of  merits,  supervisory,  68 

Schedule   for   recitation,    49 ;    making, 

flexible  plans  in,  118 
School  systems,   large  and  small,   120, 

121 
Scientific    experimentation    and   adap- 
tation,  136 
Second  trial   for  teachers,   16,   92 
Self-culture   and   training,    171 
Self-depreciation,   106 
Self-judgment  by  teachers,   64,  70,   71 
Self-possession    of   teachers,    38 
Self-supervision,  60,  63 
Shortcomings  of  a  school  or  teacher, 

66 
Special    teacher-supervisor,    73 
Special  teaching,  76 
Specialization  in  teaching,  beginning, 

75 
Standard  tests,  results  of,  185 
Standards,  fixed,   153 
Statistics    on    instruction,    gathering, 

52 
Student      teacher      and      experienced 

teacher,    132 
Success,  consciousness   of,   94 


Suggestions    to    beginners,    169 ;    new, 

47 
Superintendents'    notes    of    visits,    60 
Superintendent  and  supervision,  157 
Supervision,  arbitrary  and  autocratic, 
200 ;   criticisms   of,    191 ;   defects   of, 
194 ;    effects    of,    190 ;    justified,    17 ; 
necessity  of,  155  ;  value  of,  184 
Supervisor,    check    on,    84 ;    contempt 
for,   105 ;   as  guide  and  inspiration, 
167 ;     knowledge     of     methods     and 
practices,  32  ;  quality  and  qualifica- 
tions   of,    26 ;    rating    power,    193 ; 
readymade     opinions,     36 ;     reports 
and      recommendations,      56 ;      sug- 
gestions and  directions,  46  ;  trained, 
31 
Supervisory  visits,   length  of,   116 
Surveillance   vs.    supervision,   61 
Syllabi,   180 

Teachers'  criticism,  inviting,  196 ;  ef- 
ficiency, measuring  of,  146  ;  old  and 
new,  44 ;  rating,  value  in,  149 
training,  continuation  school,  188 ; 
viewpoint  on  supervision,  195 ; 
work  judged  by  supervisor,  93 

Teaching      knowledge,      dissemination 
of,   163 
Time,  distribution  of,   115 

Training  and  experience  of  super- 
visor,   192 ;    continuation,    133 

United  efforts  of  supervisors  and 
teachers,    201 

Unity  of  purpose  under  one  super- 
visor,   109 ;   of   school   aims,   161 

Unsolved  problems  of  supervision, 
179,    187 

Visits,  freedom  from,  185 ;  frequence 
of,  21,  183  ;  justifiable  frequence  of, 
14 ;  of  supervisor,  notes  of,  82 ; 
profitable  and  enjoyable,  168 ;  pro- 
ductive frequency  of,  74 ;  program 
of,   81,   117 ;  unannounced,   119 

Weaknesses  and  successes  of  teacher, 
172 

Women  supervisors,  28 ;  primary  su- 
pervisors, 30 

Working    ethics    of    supervision,    32 

Working  overtime,  197 

Young  teachers,  preparatory  stage, 
139 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


Form  L-9-10m-5,'28 


LB 
2805 


V/a^ner   - 


Common  sense   in 
school  supervisien, 


UCLA-''o""9 


Research  Library 


LB2805   ^N^2 


L  009  616  078  ^ 


';f  r  3  T 


^^UFORNIA 


■i-'GKLES 
i<ARY 


